Alex Rider: UNITI
by Fensta
Summary: 4 years 'post SCORPIA'. Alex survives the bullet, but goes into hiding. As MI6 finally disband SCORPIA, it's time for Alex to reappear, but at 18 years of age, do the security services still have a use for him? UPDATED! YES, THAT'S RIGHT! UPDATED!
1. Prelude

Hi, In case you haven't guessed from the title, this is an Alex Rider fic. It takes place after SCORPIA, 4 years to be precise. I think it makes sense, but it's just something I put together quickly. So if anyone has anything to say about it, good or bad, just review it and I'll see what I can do! Oh, and I'm English, so that's why some of the spelling will be weird for you Americans. Soz!

**26th Aug 2006 **_**UPDATE: **Hey there, it's been a while since I sat down and looked at this fic, as one reviewer put it, 'OVER A YEAR!' or something to that effect. Well, I decided they were right, and so ive re-read through the entire fic so far, and tried to correct any mistakes that i missed so far. Now, when i first did the editing, was having trouble with their system, meaning it mucked around with the spacing a little if you tried to edit a sentence. Therefore, if anyone reading this sees one of these mistakes, please tell me in a review, and i'll endevour to change it back to a functioning sentence. This also goes for spelling (I'm crap, but i was worse when i wrote this) or grammatical errors. I don't (and never have had) a 'beta', so I've had to do this myself in the past, and i cant pick up on my own mistakes, so im employing any and all who read this to be my help. yes, this includes YOU! er... please? Anyway, thanx for reading this, and please try to excuse the messages ive writen at the top and bottom of these chapters, they tend to be a little bad mannered in places. what can i say? i was young and stupid!_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Alex Rider books, or any of the characters within them. I do however own the original characters placed into this fic, and I reserve the right to muck them about as I like!_

**Alex Rider: UNITI**

**_Thursday, 25th November, 06:24  
_**_**Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles**_

The building looked like any other in the town, brightly coloured wall, typical Dutch style roofing, a little rough and ready, but only because of time. The front door was solid oak, probably recrafted from an old wreak; there were enough of them here over the years.

A man passed out the front door and walked down the road, oblivious to the 17 year old in the unlit alleyway opposite. Checking the GPS navigator again, the kid moved across the road stealthily, making no noise in the early morning air. Within seconds they'd passed through the security door and into the main hallway. The cool air felt good to breath in, but the kid had a job to do. Checking the GPS again they moved up the stairs, this was where the man had come from according to the tracking beacon they'd planted on the man eariler, he must have left something of interest lying about up here!

As the kid reached the top of the stairs, they noticed something on their GPS, the dot, the man, was coming back, and he was already in the hallway below. Panicking slightly, the kid ducked under a large reception desk to the side of the room. It wasnt long till the man ran past them, into the roomright of the desk. They watched with bated breath as the dot stopped in the room for the second time that night, except this time they could hear the conversation as well, since the door to the room he had just entered had been left agar.

"You've got some explaining to do!" an English accent said angrily.

"But Señor! I have done nothing!" the man was still out of breath, and the English broken, but was definitely from the same man as earlier.

"Right now, there is a child hiding under the reception desk outside this office…" the Englishman said something else after, but the kid wasn't listening, they had just jumped over the desktop, and raced down the stairs. Before long however, there was someone chasing close behind them. When the Spaniard got to the bottom of the stairs, the security door was agar, letting in the warm early morning air. Racing after the child he caught sight of a fast moving figure, running down the unlit alleyway opposite.

The child was fast, but the man more so, and within a few blocks he had the child on the floor. The kid put up a hell of a fight, a cut lip and an eye that was going to be black tomorrow a credit to that, but his overwhelming strength eventually got the better of the child. A sharp blow to the back of the head sent the limp body to the floor, unconscious. The man immediately got his mobile out, and called his boss.

"I got the kid, boss. What d'you want me to do with him?" he looked about while he spoke, checking no one saw the assault.

"First check the face, d'you recognise the face?" why was the boss always in such a hurry? He reached down to ummask the boy that gave him such a good fight and got the shock of his life.

"Boss, it's a girl…"


	2. 4 Years On

This is a bit of a heavy read. If its too much, review telling me so and I'll cut it down, maybe splitting it into two. It basically explains what Alex has been up to in the 4 years that have passed since the SCORPIA incident. For those of you that think this defeats the point of a child spy, then you just wait! This is just the start of the story! Again, I think this chapter might be a bit too full on, so review and or email me with suggestions. I'm all ears!

**_Saturday, 27th November, 14:16  
_****_Bristol, United Kingdom_**

"What d'you think? Try for goal, or kick to touch."

"We're four points down with a minute left on the clock, we don't have much choice."

Alex held the ball out to his front; kicking it easily into touch close to the opponent's try line. He turned round as he walked towards the touchline, walking backwards to address the team.

"COME ON BOYS! WE CAN DO THIS!"

The team responded with a growl of a cheer. They all respected Alex as a leader, the crowd even more. Nearly the whole college had turned out to watch the last game of the season, and even though the team was loosing, the noise they were making didn't show it.

The lineout was taken long, and the ball passed straight to Alex who distributed it quickly down the line. A few meters from the tryline, the opposing team managed to stop the offencive, the attacking forwards quickly driving over the ball, presenting it for the next phase of play. Harry, the openside winger, took the ball out of the ruck and passed it back towards Alex. As he watched the ball flying towards him, Alex got an idea. On receiving the ball he shouted out a command, and a well-practiced drill went straight into play.

"BONGO BONGO BONGO!"

With a quick look over his shoulder Alex kicked the ball into the air, over the heads of the unsuspecting, and slightly perplexed opponents. James, the blindside flanker, quickly ran through the retreating defenders as they tried changing direction, the ball practically fell into his arms. A defender did manage to grab hold of him, but there was no way for him to stop the try since James was already over the line.

The crowd went wild as he hit the floor, grounding the ball for the try. So loud in fact, that the referee's whistle to confirm the try wasn't heard by anyone. The try made the score 22-20 to the home side, and the conversion that Alex kicked with ease took it up to 24-20.

"Stay sharp boys! Its not over yet!" Alex tried to shout over the crowd, but James, who was now jogging next to him, laughed.

"Come-on Dan! There's only seconds left on the clock, there's no way they can come back now!" Alex tried to argue back, but the sound of the crowd made it stupid to even try.

The opposing team took the kick-off, the ball landing in the arms of Paddy, who quickly kicked the ball out of play, and into the crowd. The ref blew the full time whistle, and the crowd went mad. All this excitement wasn't normal for the average College rugby game, but this was the last of the year, and a win here ment an unbeaten season, somthing the College haddn't achieved for years. The team members had been advertising the game all week, the main selling point being the fact that most the guys, Alex included, were leaving at the end of the year, and this being their last ever rugby match for the College.

As the two teams made their way off the field, the crowd parted, creating a tunnel, a very loud, screaming tunnel, but a tunnel nonetheless. As the players passed through, cries of _'Nice one James!'_ or _'Always thought you'd finish in style Dan!'_ could be heard. Alex walked through with the team, still shaking hands with the opponents as he went. Unfortunately, this ment he was within an arms reach of the croud, and the slaps to his back had started to leave marks after only a few seconds.

Alex's feelings towards this crowd had changed over the years. Right that minute they were feelings of gratitude, thanks, even friendship. But at the start of his schooling career here, this was the crowd that had ridiculed and embarrassed him. He would always remember those days, when he had moved cities, counties even, when he changed his name to 'Daniel Hunter', as the worst of his life. He thought he'd been though everything life had to throw at him, and just as he was about to be released from it all, it was all brought back to sharp reality.

4 Years ago, Alex's Uncle, Ian Rider, had been killed in 'mysterious' circumstances. Within weeks, Alex was called into the MI6 HQ, a grey, ordinary looking office block in the middle of London, where they had managed to manipulate him into carrying out a series of missions, each one more dangerous than the last. But it was the effect on Alex's mental health that would have finally stopped him. Saving the world is a high stress job in itself, but it was all the small things that affected him the most, like seeing a man fall to his death from 100 meters up, seeing a man commit suicide in front of you, finding out your dad was killed by the people you work for, seeing a loved one be put in mortal danger because of you…

Those days would haunt Alex forever, but that wasn't what ended his spying days, it was an assassination attempt. In his last mission, a key member of a major terrorist organisation called SCORPIA was taken out. They blamed him personally for the loss, and had one of their operatives take him out. Except, the sniper's bullet didn't do its job. The aim was true enough, but MI6 had other ideas. At the time, Alan Blunt, the head of MI6, valued Alex as his most valuable agent. A 14 year old agent is extremely useful in the field simply because nobody expects a boy. Alex was his one and only child agent, and he was not about to loose him. Within minutes of Alex loosing consciousness, government agents, disguised as paramedics, picked Alex up and transported him to a special MI6 ward where they managed to keep him alive. After two months Alex was breathing independently, and after six he was conscious. Blunt was all for getting him back into the field, but Mrs. Jones put her foot down, and managed to get him into a relocation program. He was moved, with his guardian Jack Starbright, to Bristol, where he was placed into a private school under the name 'Daniel Hunter'. Jack was given the name 'Lisa Garret'.

His first year there wasn't a good one. Still mentally scarred from the past year, he was diagnosed as clinically depressed, and attempted to commit suicide within 4 months. Somehow, the school kids found out, and due to the cruel nature of playground gossip, he was ridiculed and teased. A number of times pupils tried to bully him, but due to his training as a spy, and the fact that he didnt really care about their well-being, they all ended up unconscious, or with broken limbs, or both. Alex almost killed one of his attackers, and although this had the effect of stopping all future bullying, it raised some serious issues.

Therapists concluded Alex really had no control over his emotions, and he was sent to counselling, but it didn't help, since the reasons why he was like he was couldn't be aired, and he really didn't want to air them. One thing good did come out of it though; he met Madeline Ross.

Maddie was in the 'trendy' circles at school, and one of the most popular girls. She had been at counselling for years due to personal matters, but Alex would sit and listen to her in the waiting room before they had their sessions. They soon grew closer, and helped each other to combat their depression. By the end of Alex's second year they were going out as a couple, not many people accepted Alex as a 'trendy', but the power Maddie had over them was enough to keep them quiet.

Over the years they grew apart as 'partners', but they still maintained a high degree of friendship, and by the time they broke up, Alex was accepted as one of the crowd. Anyone who disagreed would still have to stand up to Maddie, let alone Alex and his 'freaky' combat skills. It was mainly due to her that Alex was still alive, and he knew it. He valued her friendship above all others, knowing the way she treated him in those early talking sessions had allowed him to trust people again. He'd never forget her for as along as he lived, which, now he wasn't an MI6 operative anymore, seemed alot brighter and longer.

As he found his way out of the crowd, he spotted her leaning against a nearby outbuilding, arms crossed against her chest and smiling at him.

"You don't half leave it till the last minute!" she said laughing.

Alex could still see why he fell for her. Her blond, waist length hair and deep blue eyes drove most the male population of the College to try asking her out at least once. She really was very attractive, but he didn't think about her like that anymore, she was much more valuable as a friend.

"Yeh, well it all adds to the effect!" he said, eventually breaking away from the team, who had started singing now.

"And what effects that then?" she said, giving a sly smile.

"Making me look good!" Alex said putting on a fake model pose, making her laugh.

She walked with him until they reached the changing rooms where they had to part, not that most the team would mind her turning up for a celebratory shower with them. They agreed to meet up in their usual café after the match supper, and Alex watched her walk of to find some of the girls that had been watching the game before walking into the changing rooms. Match supper was the meal put on by the hosting college for the away team, in the higher teir teams, the home side got to come along as well, although the home team rearely showed unless they'd won.

Later that day, Alex was walking towards the café through the city. The light had already started to fade, and the cold winter wind blew though the light hoodie he had on. Burrowing his hands into the pockets, Alex quickend his pace to try and escape the wind assoon as possible. Unfortunately, he'd never reach Maddie tonight, and as soon as Alex saw the trench coat and dog, he knew it.

Agent Carter and his dog, today a brittish bulldog, were walking up the street towards him. Carter's eyes didn't leave Alex's, his face seemed joyful and humorous, the exact opposite of what Alex was feeling at the sight of this ghost from his past. He'd bet anything this man was MI6, and unfortunately for Alex, he was right.

"Dan! Or should I say Alex?" Alex didn't stop walking, determined to get to Maddie before this man could get him to agree to anything.

"Who are you? What d'you want?" Alex asked angrily, still walking, but at an even faster pace now. The sound of his old name bringing back more memories than he ever thought it would.

"Now Alex! What's all the hostility about? We save your life and this is how you thank us?"

"Ever thought that maybe I wanted to die?" This seemed to shut Carter up for a while. But he'd been sent here for a reason; Alex being like this wasn't going to stop him.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me, Mr Blunt has asked to see you immediately." This new, more business-like tone made the statement sound more like an order.

"I don't work for you anymore, I have a new life, and even if I did go, I can't right now, I'm on my way to meet someone." Carter just kept walking by his side.

Alex could now see Maddie sitting inside the café, at their usual table. Her back was turned, but he'd recognise that head anywhere. He thought that maybe, if he could just get there, Carter would have to go away. He couldn't go talking about classified MI6 material in a café full of people.

"Don't think that I'll keep quiet in front of her, my orders are to get you back to London, using any means nessisary. Getting her to sign the Official Secrets Act isnt going to stop me." Alex kept walking, "You don't really want to bring her into all this, do you?"

Mental images of Sabina flashed through Alex's mind, her face when she was being held at gunpoint, her father… It wasn't Alex fault that Sabina's father was targeted, but Alex still blamed himself for not doing enough.

Alex stopped dead in the street; if Maddie turned around she'd see him straight away. Did he want to bring her into it? He'd longed to tell her about his real life, she'd understand, but would it be fair on her... But... when he'd first started to talk to her, he'd vowed to keep her seperate from his past. Even if it was for her own protection.

"Ok, I'll go with you." His breath was ragged and his voice was rough. "But only if I can say goodbye to her first." Carter smiled, but it was a cruel smile.

"And what are you going to say? _'I'm just off to MI6... Shouldn't be long!'_" Carter said in an Alex-like accent. "No, I don't think so. And telling her you're going 'somewhere' would just make her more worried that you couldn't tell her where. I think its better that you just come along."

Confused and distressed as he was, Alex just agreed, and allowed himself to be steered off in the opposite direction by Carter. As they reached the corner, he looked back to see Maddie looking out the window, scanning the street for him. He ducked out of sight just in time for her not to see him, but her eyes lingered on the corner for a long time before turning back to her coffee.


	3. Life or Death

Thank you to all my Reviewers! I have taken what you said onboard, and if you care to read on after the end of the chapter, you'll find a little section dedicated to you. Non-reviewers, well, I don't have a section for you…

_**Sunday, 28th November, 09:24  
**_**_London, United Kingdom_ **

They stopped in front of the usual grey building, the boring looking office block that pretended to be a bank. Inside the main hallway were the reception and lifts. The guards, recognising Agent Carter, let the two through without question into an awaiting lift.

"You know, since your little assassination attempt on Mrs. Jones, we've stepped up our security." Alex wasn't particularly surprised that they'd stepped up their security, it had been relatively easy to outwit those guards 4 years ago, but he couldn't actually see _any_ security except the two guards downstairs.

"Really?" Alex said, trying to not seem too interested.

"Yes, in fact, its been commented that we've never been so protected in this building!" Alex would have put money on this guy having some hand in the security updates.

"I s'pose you were involved in that then."

"How did you guess!" the man was practically dancing, "It's all to do with the lifts you see, they now have fully equipped sensors. Infra red, X-Ray, we practically 'MRI' scan you in these things! There's no way of hiding anything on you, that includes that watch your wearing!"

Alex reflexively put his hand to the watch on his arm. It had been a present from Smithers just before Alex left for Bristol. It was practically indestructible, and had special features like a built in Tazer and GPS tracker. Alex had just spent the last four years working out how to use it, there was no way he was giving it up now!

_"Floor 6B: Identification please…"_ a computerized voice came over the loudspeaker. At the same time, a panel in the metalwork next to the door slid open, revealing a handprint pad.

"I think you know what to do."

Carter put his hand on the pad and they both watched as a red line slid down the panel. Taking his hand away, the perfect print of his hand was left on the screen where another line, green this time, slid left to right across the pad. The only indication that it had been accepted was the fact that the print disappeared, which could have meant anything. Alex gathered it was his turn as Carter stepped aside. He placed his hand on the plate as Carter had done and the horizontal red line slid down his hand. It felt hot, as if the print was being burnt onto the screen, but not so hot that he had an urge to take his hand away. The line disappeared off the bottom of the screen and Alex relaxed his hand, wiping it on his jeans. The green vertical line swept across the print, and now that he was closer, Alex could see green dots being left on key points of the print for the computer to use as identification reference points. Just as before, the print disappeared just after the green line slid off the screen. The lift started to move again and the loudspeakers came back to life.

_"Welcome Agent Carter, Agent Rider."_

So he was an acknowledged agent now was he? That meant Blunt wanted him back for more missions, not just for a social visit. The lift door opened and the two stepped out in unison. Alex had visited Blunt's office enough times to know where it was, even if it was a while ago.

Leaving Carter behind, he stormed towards Blunt's door, eventually hitting it with enough force to fling it open and leave ahole in the plaster where the door handle crashed into the wall. Blunt looked up from his desk, slightly shocked at the intrusion, and within seconds Agents were running towards Alex, guns raised. The first one reached Alex and attempted to put him to ground, Alex's reflexes and martial art skill had improved over the 4 years away, attending nearly every Dojo he could find. This left the Agent arse up on the floor in front of Blunt's desk. The arrival of three more agents, all eager to show the boss what they could do, followed their colleague to the floor.

When Alex eventually looked up from his combat ready position to look at Blunt's face, he was surprised to see the man smiling.

"Well well, if it isn't Alex!" he stood up and looked down at the four secret service agents lying on the floor in a daze. "You lot could learn a few lessons from this lad!" he looked back up to Alex, "Except, you're not a 'lad' anymore are you!" the grin on his face was unbearable to Alex. Other than the fact that Alex had been sure up to this point that Blunt simply didn't have the muscles in his face to smile, it felt as if Blunt had somehow tricked him into showing this controlled aggression.

Just then Mrs. Jones calmly walked through the door behind Alex. She almost smiled when she saw the four secret service agents getting gingerly to their feet. Ordering them out, she closed the door behind them and turned to Alex.

"My, how you've grown!" It was true that Alex had grown at least a few inches, but not as much as his peers at college, they mentioned something about over exercise stunting his growth. Noticing the stern, barely tolerant look Alex was giving her, she changed her tack.

"I know you might not want to be here, but we really do need your help on this one." She sat down on one of the grey sofas, patting the seat next to her in indication that he should follow suit. He sat, but in a chair across the room, so he could keep both Mrs. Jones and Blunt in his field of vision.

"Would you mind telling me why I'm here?" Alex's hard, angry tone had softened slightly, but he was still obviously pissed.

Blunt walked over to a filing cabinet, and after a few seconds of sifting through the files, he pulled out one, a few more seconds and a bit more flicking, and another file was extracted. He closed the draw and walked behind his desk, sitting as he throws the files on the desk. He turned and took another file out from a desk draw.

"We have a problem." His smiling face had suddenly turned very serious and businesslike, much more like the Blunt Alex knew and despised. "We have an agent in trouble…" he went to elaborate, but Mrs. Jones cut in.

"Don't you think you should start at the beginning?" Blunt looked like he wanted to kill Mrs. Jones on the spot if she continued, but she went ahead oblivious. "He needs to know…"

"Know what?" Blunt really did look as if he would kill Mrs. Jones at the next opportunity, but again, she spoke out.

"He's going to find out soon enough anyway, and it would make things a hell of a lot easier."

Blunt closed his eyes and exhaled slowly in a blatant calming technique. When he opened his eyes he got up and routed through his desk draws again, pulling out yet another file.

"We have a new division of spy in MI6, of which Mrs. Jones is head." Alex looked to her, and she gave a small nod.

"Its an international venture following your success as an agent."

"No…" the word escaped Alex's mouth, but Blunt kept on.

"The Americans were the first to come forward about creating a team of agents like yourself, but there was no way we could train that type of agent without other countries finding out, so we decided to include other key European countries and allies."

"You can't! You didn't!" Alex's voice was barely a whisper, and that's probably why Blunt continued.

"At first we had trouble finding suitable kids as well trained as you were at that age, but over the past few years we've been combing the involved countries for prospective talent."

"How dare you! Haven't you learnt anything from what I went through!" Alex was quite audible this time, but Blunt carried right on.

"Yes Alex, we did learn something from you, that to be a successful agent at your age, you need very specialised and intense training in not only physical skills, but mentally."

Alex was totally speechless; although he wasn't surprised that Blunt had twisted his words. It seemed to be a talent of his!

"Yes, you see, I felt that you had been insufficiently prepared for the psychological sides of the job, so I now make it a major part of the training program." Mrs. Jones said.

Alex's gaze snapped over to her face.

"You mean to say that just by giving kids, children, a little bit of psychological training, you feel it's ok for you to use them in life threatening situations! What gives you the right to use kids in the first place!"

"Now Alex, think about what you did as a spy at that age." Mrs. Jones said, talking as if he'd won a trophy. "You saved the UK and the World from war and destruction more than once. If we didn't have you…" Alex cut in.

"You would have used other agents, other methods of stopping these people. I was just your easy way out, dispensable; I was just one kid, against the lives of the 'entire world' as you put it. If I had died, would you have even cared?"

"Alex," Mrs. Jones said, looking hurt that Alex was talking like this. Unfortunately, Alex just saw this as acting, she must have done her share of it during active service. "You were our most useful agent, your death would have been a huge blow to MI6, why else d'you think we saved your life 4 years ago?"

"You mean I was the only child spy you had! I know you people, that would have been the only reason that MI6 would have felt a loss. So what do you go and do! Create a child spy department, so if you loose one of us, its ok, you've still got a few more!"

Alex might have been slightly over reacting, but he haddn't been the only person within MI5 and 6 to object to the program. Blunt was very aware of this, but in his opinion, the fewer people that knew it was up and running, the better. When the subject had come up in a board meeting just over a week ago, Blunt had said that the project had been cancelled due to a refusal of funding from the treasury. A chorus of cheers went up from the table, but Blunt had been lying. In fact, just a few minutes after the announcement, Mrs. Jones had handed him a folderof the final plan for the first mission of the project.

"Whether you agree with it or not, its up and running, and I'm afraid if the board of directors and the Prime Minister couldn't stop it being formed, I don't think your objections are going to do much." Blunt's outburst had shut Alex up for a few seconds, but made him a hell of a lot angrier.

"So let me guess! I'm here because one of your agents has failed in their mission, and you want someone with experience to go back in and finish the job."

"Basically, yes." Blunt showed no emotion, probably a good thing, because if Alex had got wind of the fact he'd gotten to Blunt, he may not have stopped attacking the project. Mrs. Jones took over.

"Its quite embarrassing actually, the agent is one of the best we have, and American. This fact means that we must have her back." Alex picked up on one particular word.

"Her! Your dragging girls into it as well now! What happened to the armed services being opposed to allowing females into the front line positions on account of them distracting the males! Wouldn't you think that with _teenage _agents, females in the ranks could be a disaster waiting to happen!"

"Yes Alex, we have thought about it, but female agents can be just as effective, even more so sometimes. When we were selecting prospective agents, we weren't thinking of sex, it wasn't something we felt was important."

"Enough of this!"

Blunt was getting just as pissed as Alex, his command issued with such ferocity, that a few passing agents jumped in the corridor.

"I didn't call for you to discuss the ethics and policies of an MI6 project! I called you here to ask you to be involved with the rescue one of my best agents!"

"Ask? You're asking me?" Alex almost laughed with disbelief, after four years off from pretending to 'ask' him to 'participate' in missions, he thought they might have thought up a different word.

"Yes Alex, we are _asking_, if you don't want anything to do with it you can walk away now."

"Well, that's easy!" Alex got up and started to walk towards the door.

"She might die if we don't get to her soon…" Alex's walk towards the door was halted in an instant; there was no way he could walk away from a dieing person like that, not if he was her only hope.

Blunts words were calmly and deliberately said. In reality he was never going to let Alex leave the building without him agreeing, but it was always better to make agents think they were participating of their own free will.

"Why me?"

"A fair enough question, but I'm afraid if I let another department of MI6 handle the rescue, the fact that the project is up and running might get out, and I can't let that happen!" Alex started to walk back towards the door, "I s'pose I could just use the other kids, as you say, I've got more than enough of them..."

The last comment was the final straw for Alex. Of course, Blunt didn't mean it, but it manipulated Alex in exactly the way he wanted him manipulated.

"I'll do it... But don't think I'm doing this out of choice!"

_**Reviewers corner:**_

**Alex:** Soz, no yahoo (I'm an MSN person myself), and I have written a few other things, but ain't nobody reading them! Lol

**Laine7727:** Don't say that too loud around here! You might not make many friends! I've just pointed it out haven't I? Oops…soz! Hope you dare to review again after this!

**Julia:** Ok, on reading over the other first two chapters I can see what you mean, and I actually caught myself doing the same in his one! I might go back and change all the tenses in the other chapters sometime, but it would involve a bit of work (shudders), I think I'd rather just continue writing and watching out for it as I go. Gimme a heads up if i do it again!

**Fluffy**: The whole point of the first chpt is to make you think its Alex until the last minute. Ok, so it might not be my best skill, but it made sense to me, then again, I wrote it didn't I…  
PS; I had to call you fluffy, although a big 3-headed dog does keep popping into my head…

**DaydreamQueenMisha:** As much as id love to claim responsibility for this 'Alex Rider' section to FanFiction, 'twas not me, 'twas the fairies! Ok, so it wasn't them either, but it just happened to be there when I had to choose where to put the fic… And yes, I believe ur right, SCORPIA was the real name of the organisation, not SCORPIO, coz that's a star sign… Obviously I knew that…ahem…and shame on those of you that didn't spot my deliberate mistake…ahem… In any case, thanx for that, I've gone back and changed it. (My excuse is that I have none of the books on me, this is all from memory and what I can find on the old www, on which I coulda found SCORPIA... I think I'll shut up now...)

**Tom**: Glad you enjoyed it, and I will definitely be posting more if I get this much response each time!

**So, there's a reason for all you not reviewing for you to do so! Apart from the fact that I really want reviewers, the more reviews, the longer this wave of creativeness will continue! Plus, I need people to embarrass at the end of chapters like this!**

**Come on! You know you want to see your name at the bottom of the next chapter! (yes, this is bribery…)**


	4. Safe House

Ok, ok, I know its short! It was something I just 'did' on spur of the moment. It's not particularly exciting, but it does try and set the scene for the next chapter, 'try' being the operative word! Also, remember Alex is meant to still be pissed at Blunt and MI6 in general.

_**Sunday, 28th November, 21:38  
Nyon, Switzerland**_

Blunt had decided that Alex needed some pre-mission warm-ups in a training base before he went back into the field. Alex had agreed with him and was secretly glad to be given a chance to get back into his 'spy' role. He was in Switzerland only a few hours after the conversation.

Alex looked at the folder in front of him, despising it and what it meant, but he had to read it, for the girl…

The fact was he'd been reading it all day and could probably quote the whole 5000-word document inside without trouble. He felt that he had to read it, even if it was just an attempt jump-start his brain into realising where he was and what he'd got himself into…again. Plus, he didn't want to muck this one up; it would be the girl who would feel the mistake, not him.

He got up from the desk and walked over to the window of his apartment. The Swiss secret service had been nice enough to lend him a state-of-the-art, luxury apartment, right in the heart of a sleepy town near Genéva, a city that handles over a quarter of the world's wealth every year. A place where the secret service might well have operations.

Alex had wondered why he'd been sent to Switzerland, but Mrs. Jones had been quick to inform him that the main training base was in the hills of the Alps. The Swiss are known for their cuckoo clocks, chocolate and cowbells, but they are also known for their nuclear bunkers. The government openly claim that there's enough space in their alpine bunkers to house the entire population of Switzerland with space left over. In fact, there was so much space left over, that they'd given the project an entire bunker complex in the Alps close to the city of Genéva.

Named 'Camp Jackson', or CJ for short, it was the main operations and training Head Quarters (HQ) for the UNITI project, 'UNITI' standing for 'UNited International Training Initiative'. Apparently, any reference to children would make the whole project 'un-PC'. Alex could hardly believe that they'd name the project UNITI simply because it was 'wrong' to have any reference to children, but have children risking their lives under the name… How dare they!

Alex watched as the snow fluttered down over the sleepy town, the medieval castle looking picturesque in its cape of white. From where he stood, Alex could see tourists walking round in their luminous ski jackets, taking pictures and sliding about on the icy stone paths. Turning away, hewent back over to the file, opening it on his bed to read it yet again...

_**Name: **Trista Mathews  
**DoB: **15th March**  
Age: **17 years, 8 Months  
__**Hometown:** San Jose, California, USA_

The fact that she was an American seemed strange to Alex. Since the UNITI project was mainly a British-led operation, surely Blunt would want a British agent as the first into action for the precise reason that it might fail. At least that way it would be a British casualty with British lead training. This way, the Americans were directly involved, and you really don't want the Americans pissed off with you!

As it was, Trista was a very experienced martial artist and had an almost perfect score in most the training exercises. In a school she would be the 'model pupil', an inspiration for the rest of the team, extremely smart and a born leader. Alex would even say that she was probably more skilled than himself in terms of qualifications and expertise. But being an agent in the field needs more than pure skill, it needs a clam head and a focused mind, with just a smidgen of luck. And that can't be learnt in a great hurry!

Closing the dossier Alex walked into the kitchen, his footsteps echoing off the newly tiled floor. The 'modern' style meant there was hardly any life to the place, and therefore a perfect apartment for someone about to take life to 'collect their thoughts', or something like that...

Looking round the place, Coke can in hand, Alex spotted little details dotted around the place where other 'tenants' had left their mark. A large painting covered a series of long, thin holes in the plaster, the mark of a knife being thrown into the wall at some time. A stain on the carpet, definitely wine, and no agent Alex knew would be clumsy enough to knock over a glass of wine. This meant that either Government officials used this apartment as well, or someone was 'interrupted' during a meal. Most shocking of all were a series of holes in one wall, badly concealed by a large plant. Alex would guess they were holes from a handgun calibre bullet. Not wanting to think what it meant, Alex just decided to get some rest.

Walking back into the bedroom he threw the dossier onto a nearby desk, stripping to his boxers. Getting into bed he clapped his hands, turning the lights of in a way he'd wanted to be able do since he was little. One of his last thoughts that night before he fell asleep was;

_"Well, at least something came out of this trip!"_

_**Reviewers corner:**_

**Dani:** Ok, I will be updating soon. I know this isn't much so your just gonna have to hold ur horses for a while!

**Lady-Firehair: **Well (blushes), its not quite 'that' good I'm sure. Especially this chapter, but hey I'm just winding up to a mission, so I can be a bit borin for a while! If you love Alex soo much, then you better read what I'm about to write at the end of these notes, you might just have something to say!

**Laine7727: **Scorpia was a major terrorist organisation that Alex had to deal with in the last (latest) book. I can't really say mush more without giving away the story, but I think it should be out in the US now, although I wouldn't bet on it. I have a nasty habit of loosing bets like that! Lol

**Lily-Evans-Personified: **lol, Alex was a child spy in all of the books, that being the main storyline, so although id live to lay claim to the idea, I can't. That's all Horowitz's doing, and I dare say even he got the idea of a child spy from somewhere…

**Julia:** You have no idea how lucky ur on this chapter! just as I was about to crate a new chapter, msn told me I had a review (email alert thingy). So, SO, lucky! Neway, thanx for that! I'm trying hard with the tenses, I'm surprised nobody's picked it up before; this chapter was all over the place (probably still is lol). And yeh, I particularly liked the guilt trip, i think it sums up Alex relationship with Blunt extremely well!

Ok, again, sorry its so short and borin, but I just did it, trying to get some of the borin bits out the way. If you're still reading I'm impressed (honestly I am)! But quite glad coz I'm about to ask ur advice.

I was wondering if I should add a little romance into this fic.I wasn't originally going to, but if you guys wanted me to I could probably do something, and before you ask; yeh, I've done romance before. It's just an idea, so if you have any thoughts on the matter email me (email on Profile methinks) or simply review with your suggestions. I'll probably reply via this reviewer's corner thingy, that is, unless somebody tells me they don't want to be 'talked about'. Hey, it's your choice!

Happy reviewing!


	5. In the Sniper's Scope

Sorry for the delay on the update, but I've been trying to work out how to include the romance you all wanted without taking away the fact that this is meant to be a Fic about the 'adventures' of Alex, not his love life. Oh and just in case u haven't guessed yet, the majority wanted romance in the story. I find it quite funny that there are people who want Alex and Trista to get together, even though you have no idea what type of person she is yet! Well, you're all just going to have to keep guessing on this one. I ain't revealing anything about who's going to have Alex's affections in the coming chapters. Just keep reading!

One other thing, I'm going on holiday on Sunday, and where I'm going I wont be able to post chapters (im off to Curacao, see chpt 1, for a little reunion thing since i used to live there). I promise I'll keep writing, and I should be able to check your reviews, so I'll still be listening to you lot. You just might not get any more chapters for a while, a week at least… Sorry! But look at it this way, when I do start posting again, the chapters should be coming in thick and fast for a while.

Neway, yes, read, review, but above all; ENJOY!

_**Tuesday, 30th November, 03:54**_

_**French Alps, French - Swiss Border**_

Why did they always do this to him? Cold, hungry, exhausted, and it wasn't even light yet! His fingers were frozen to their core, even through the three layers of gloves. The Gortex clothing wasn't helping much either, the snow managing to get in at neck, waist and boots levels.

His feet weren't exactly feeling their best anyway, having just walked for what felt like hours through thick now banks. The torchlight hit an overhang in the rocky face of the mountain, and sensing an opportunity to rest, Alex made his way over to its limited protection. The overhang created a snow-free clearing just big enough for Alex to sit. The temperature only went up by a few degrees, the wind-chill being reduced slightly, not that Alex noticed, being as cold as he was.

Checking the GPS map again, he tracked his progress across the snowy mountains with a groan. The palmtop device was the only contact with MI6 or UNITI Alex had since he was left in the apartment 2 days ago. He'd found it in his fridge the previous afternoon, and as he turned it on, a pre-recorded message told him that he was going to have to make his own way to Camp Jackson. It explained that the co-ordinates of one of the base's entrances were stored in the memory of the palmtop, and that he was to get to the base by using the integrated GPS mapping system.

Alex looked straight ahead; even at 4 in the morning the sheer white blandness of the French Alps stared back at him. Something else in the message told him was that the gate was only open at 5am the next day, now this morning. Luckally, also in the fridge he'd found 2,500 Swiss Franks, money for him to buy some warmer clothes, something he was now very thankful for even if they weren't working very well. He really didn't fancy trekking across the snowy Alps in jeans.

5 minutes later, Alex found himself wading through the snow once again. Somewhere above him he could hear a helicopter, and by the smooth sound of it, it was an 8-prop chopper. Then again, the only choppers able to survive in these winds would be advanced ones. The wind soon obscured the sound, and the fact that Alex could only see by torchlight, meant the exact location of the chopper was lost with the noise.

From inside the chopper, a sniper rifle was trained at Alex, the crosshairs planted firmly on his face. The sniper's infrared scope making the dark and snowy nature of the mountains no obstacle for his vision. He wasn't aiming to shoot; in fact the rifle wasn't even loaded. His job was to monitor the boy until he make it to the base entrance, if indeed he managed to get there at all. The sniper wasn't confident that the boy wound make it, his body temperature was way down, and his actions looked laboured. He'd been walking in through thick snow banks for a good 4 hours now, and he still had a good few miles to go yet. Once he'd reached his co-ordinates he'd still have to actually find the entrance, not an easy task. The sniper had taken a good few minutes trying to find that damned entrance during his own 'snow walk', and he'd already seen the entrance without snow the summer before.

Alex heard the chopper again and looked up, pointing the torch up into the air in an effort to light up the bird. Of course, the torch beam didn't hit anything but a sheet of snowflakes flying through the air. The sound was soon obscured by the wind again.

Alex traipsed on, and tried to take his mind off the cold by thinking about anything _but_ the cold. Topics like his father, his uncle, Jack Star bight, and Sabina ran through his mind. He dwelled on Sabina for a while without realising it, remembering her face, her accent. He wondered if she'd changed over the past few years, he could just imagine a taller, more mature-looking Sabina walking beside him for a second, before her face changed to Maddie's.

Too tired to work out what it meant, he simply kept walking, trying to draw strength from her smiling face. Alex's steps were short, each one with less energy than the last. Maddie's face flickered in front of his eyes and he managed to keep going, only for a short while though.

Up in the chopper, the sniper was getting ready to pick Alex up. His rifle was safely packed away and he was going through the last few safety checks. GPS palmtop on and had signal, LED torch working, sidearm safety on, new mag loaded. Finishing his checks he picked up the night vision goggles and took another look at Alex.

He was stumbling still, although somehow he was still going. The sniper knew that, personally, he would have had to stop way back; endurance had never been his strong point. Alex however, was different. The sniper remembered back to when he was told his mission; to escort Alex Rider into the base. The excitement had almost been too much, having the honour to be responsible for a celebrity like Alex Rider, his role model.

Back on the ground, Alex was having trouble staying on his feet. He felt more like he was 'falling' forward than walking. The picture of Maddie's face had long gone, and Alan Blunt's had filled it. With an intense feeling of hatred, Alex lunged forward, resulting in a face full of snow.

The sudden cold, wet feeling to his face and neck was enough to shock him out of his 'visions'. Instead he was quite shocked to find himself lying face first in the snow. He'd lost his torch somewhere, and by the time he'd identified the light, the sound of helicopter blades was back in the air.

This time, the chopper identified itself, fixing a beam on Alex; this of 'course, blinded Alex, who had been looking towards the noise. Instinct told him to run, but the muscles in his legs were having enough of a struggle keeping him standing, to let alone start thinking about running away. So, Alex just stood there until the wind and light forced him to turn away. Hearing the engines slow slightly Alex chanced a glance back towards the chopper, again being blinded by the light. Soon Alex could hear the sound of crunching footsteps close to him, he turned around to inspect the man and received a small shock when he saw a young face smiling back at him. This boy had to be about a year or two younger than Alex, but in full arctic cammo, a Desert Eagle strapped to his hip.

"TOP O' THE MORNIN TO YE SIR!" the boy shouted over the combined sounds of wind and helicopter engine, a stupid grin plastered to his face. Alex didn't respond, but this didn't stop the boy walking towards him and helping him walk towards the chopper. Alex didn't quite understand exactly what was happening, since his mind was in such a tired state, but he decided to just go with it, since it was the easiest option available. Within a few minutes he was strapped into a seat on the chopper, the Irish boy sitting opposite him, the stupid grin still plastered to his face.

"CONNER'S THE NAME!" he said, sticking out his hand for Alex to shake, to which Alex obliged slowly.

"ALEX!" He responds, feeling inclined to give his name in exchange. Conner's smile turned to a laugh.

"OH, I KNOW WHO YE ARE ALRIGHT!" Alex couldn't see how, but he just shrugged it off, too tired to think at the moment.

"WE'VE BIN WAITIN TO FINALLY MEET YE FOR A WHILE NOW! WE WERE STARTIN TE TINK DEY'D MAKE YE UP!"

Totally confused Alex asked the only question that makes sense to him at the time.

"WHY?"

Conner laughed again, thinking Alex was simply being modest with him.

"COZ YOU'RE A FUCKIN' LEGEND IF YE DON'T MIND ME SAYIN SIR!"

All this 'sir' business was starting to get on Alex's nerves, luckily, he didn't have to think about it for a while since Conner pointed out the base entrance. All Alex could see was a mountainside, but before his eyes a part of the sheer cliff face slid aside to reveal a small hanger, filled with helicopters, Lynx, Black Hawk, you name it…

"WELCOME TE' CAMP JACKSON CAPTAIN RIDER!"

_**Reviewer's Corner: (damn there's a lot of u this week!)**_

**_DaydreamQueenMisha:_** Thanx for that, I'll check out the Fic (thanx to the Lady for writing it) and thanx for the review in general. Looking around at some of the other Alex Rider Fics around (most seem to be in the 'misc' category), u seem to be quite the authority on them. Thanx for the support!

**_Lady-Firehair:_** First I better state that the fact that my character is called Maddie is a complete fluke. U'll see that ppl are recommending ur stories (see above), so I might just have to take u up on ur email offer sometime coz ur obviously an expert on the romance matter. And please stop complimenting me! My head grows every time I read that review! Lol (that was a joke! I repeat! Joke! I need compliments! NOW!) ahem… thanx neway!

**_Lily-Evans-Personified: _**Sorry, I feel like I'm patronising you. I don't mean to, it just comes out! I'm the first I kno of to think about having a 'team' of child spies like this, but ive read other Fics where Sabina is trained to become a spy to avenge Alex, or sommit like that. That answer ur question?

**_Julia:_** Sorry, but nothing this time, next episode there will be for sure (I'm talking about a training scene here)! I really got mixed up with the tenses when writing this chapter, so I expect mistakes (see last paragraph or 2 lol). I am trying though! Honestly!

**_Katysays22:_** thanx for that! I always enjoy reading reviews like that! Makes me feel all warm inside! Rest assured I'm having too much fun reading ur reviews to stop writing this now!

**_Deville: _**I don't mind criticism at all (I need it! Believe me!). But I'm kinda confused by wat u say about romance in ur review. U say 'I think u would ruin the story' but then go on to talk about u thinking I should put some in along the way. I'm not quite following you there, but I do agree with wat u say about the romance shouldn't suddenly appear in the story. And about Sabina, I'm still working on it, I'm not too sure how I'm gonna do it, but I'm gonna try and get her back somehow. But maybe not in the way u want… I dunno, I haven't worked it all out yet… I'll keep u posted!

**_Tom: _**little agent babies… aww how cute! Until one decides to knock u off ur feet with a nice roundhouse kick or one puts a piece of chewed up chewing gum in ur hand before jumping into a bomb shelter! (if u've read the books u should kno wat I'm on about). So yeh, cute, but dangerous! Lol

**_Soldierx:_** thanx for takin the time to read! I'm glad u like it and don't worry! I'm planning to put in some romance. I'm just not gonna tell ya when or with who! (arnt I a nice writer! lol)

_Not much else to say really...cept, **MERRY CHRISTMAS!**  
Oh, and to those of u from Eire, sorry about the irish accent there. But its quite hard to write in an accent!_


	6. Camp Jackson

I'm back! Hope you all had a good holiday! Mine was great! I've arrived back in cold England and am not liking it compared to the average 30 degC in Curaçao (see chpt 1,). And yes, that's where I went, for a bit of a refresher course on its nightlife.

Sorry it took so long to post again, but I really didn't have much time to type out what I'd written on holiday, and I really couldn't take my laptop onto the beach with me. Really, you should see the pad I took, I'm still finding sand coming out of it, and the pages I've written on are crispy as hell. Salt water and Bic pens don't mix by the way, use pencil!

Anyway, I'm planning to keep this story going, but I've also started to write an original fiction as well, so I'm going to have to slow down the updates to around one a week. Hope that doesn't stop people reading it!

So, here's part of what I threw together over the holidays:

_**Sunday, 5th December, 07:02  
**__**Camp Jackson, Swiss Alps**_

As Alex trudged though the snow for the 5th time in as many days, he started to wonder what the hell he was doing. The wind was just as strong as his first venture into the mountain, but the arctic combats issued to him for the past week had seemed to be doing their job. At least he hadn't almost blacked out in the past week, a week in which he'd been tested past what he could even remember from his SAS training 4 years ago, even though he had tried to keep himself in as best physical fitness as possible. Each day had started with this hour long 'snow walk', followed by training both within and outside the base complex. It had been tough, but on this, that last day before Alex was to set off for the Caribbean, Alex finally felt as if he was at the same level of fitness as the rest of the UNITI team. He'd even been teaching them takedown moves the day before, even to the members who considered themselves 'experts'. Alex had only been there 5 days, but he could already sense that he could be friends with most these kids…

"How'd ya like being back in the field then Alex?" Alex turned quickly, startled from his thoughts. One of the girls was now walking beside him through the thick snow.

"You chose the worst time to re-train, its bloody freezing!" she shivered slightly, wrapping her arms round her body for warmth. The depth of the snow forced her to unfurl her arms again for balance, but when she touched Alex's arm it wasn't for stability.

"But I'm glad you are. It means a lot to us…" With that she gave Alex a small smile and increased her speed to catch up with the next person in the convoy.

That was Lisa Brown, an English girl Alex's age who, according to her dossier, was an expert in Tracking and Stealth, and also one of the only black members of the UNITI team. Her outlook and demeanour made her a strong leader, and was respected throughout the team. Even those who disliked Daniel, the 18-year-old American who was officially their 'leader', respected her enough to obey his orders during training. Luckily, the training was in preparation of solo missions, so this didn't matter that much. In fact, Alex was quite pleased that some of the members disliked authority figures just as he had, just as he still did.

Alex watched Lisa talking to the kid in front of him in the convoy, Chase. Chase hadn't spoken to him the entire week of training, not for lack of trying on Alex's part. Alex couldn't really blame him though, and according to the others, he hadn't spoken to anyone since…the incident.

See, Chase was Trista's younger brother. They had both been picked up at the same time off the streets of Brooklyn, and had been in the training program for 3 years. Lisa always referred to Chase as a happy kid with a wild sense of humour and a love of practical jokes, but every time she stared to tell stories of his 'adventures', her eyes would flick over to the boy and her story wouldn't go any further.

Trista was sorely missed within the group, and although Alex was a celebrity amongst them, it wasn't the reason that he was so well receipted by the group. The 'management' hadn't bothered to cover up the fact that Alex was there to prepare for Trista's rescue mission, and since Alex was already considered their 'forefather', respect from the group for what he was doing was still overwhelming to Alex.

They trudged on through the snow until they heard the welcome sound of the Black Hawk helicopter approaching up the valley. Although the chopper wasn't there to pick them up. The aim of this particular exercise was to hide from the chopper, and in the low light it wasn't exactly that hard. Certain protocols had to be followed; for example, covering your tracks and staying in single file as to only make one track for the last in line to cover.

Alex thought about who must be at the rear, Lisa had just come past, on her way from the back, so next in the queue was… Mya, the prize possession of the UNITI project at the moment. She was the youngest member at 13, but was performing at the same standard and level as the 18 year olds. Alex had thought she was too young to be doing this at first, but then reminded himself that he wasn't much older when he started. Unfortunately, this only strengthened his belief that she was too young, especially when he watched her smiling happy face as she played in the snow on their free time.

Taking a quick look back he could see the small girl a few places behind him in the queue. She was hurriedly filling in their tracks by collapsing the walls of the deep track they were making using her ski poles as she walked. Seeing Alex looking back at her she smiled and waved one of her little arms before turning back to the task at hand.

Alex herd the chopper get closer and immediately stopped and ducked, collapsing the walls around him just as Mya was doing. The rest of the convoy quickly followed suit as the chopper made a sudden change in direction towards them. They all, however, needed a lot less time to cover themselves up than Alex, and as the chopper flew almost exactly over the top of their position they were all well camouflaged. Hearing the engine noise pass the group started to uncover themselves, smiling widely at each other and letting off a few 'whooops' that echoed around the almost-silent mountains, the helicopter engine still audible amongst the nothingness of the early morning.

Suddenly the radio piece in Alex's, and everybody else's, ear came to life.

"_Ok!" _the crackling voice of Corporal Red, one of the training staff, sounded, _"Where are you? I think you've had enough hiding for one day." _Another cheer went up from the group; this was definitely their least liked exercise, especially in the depth of winter!

Lisa, who had been placed in charge since Daniel was organising something back in the base and was exempt from this exercise, radioed back their position, laughing when 'Red', as they all called him, suddenly realised he'd just flown over them.

Within minutes they were all in the air, and again, there was shouting going on inside the bay.

"MAN! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE CARIBBEAN!" this was Diego, the Spanish contribution to UNITI. He was only 15, meaning he was the youngest male other than Chase, but he already had an expertise in knife handling, and an excellent sneak. He was even a good cook.

"WEN WE COME BAC' WE'LL HAVE TANS!" A few people laughed at Conner for this statement, being Irish, he had extremely pale skin. The sort that either burns, or stays white.

"MAKE SURE YOU BRING BACK PHOTOS!" this was Destiny, one of the girls that wasn't going, they couldn't take the whole group after all, and Chase certainly wasn't in any state to go, although he had argued with the decision.

"DON'T WORRY GIRL, I'LL BE SURE TO BRING BACK SOME PICS OF THE HOT BODS!" Lisa said, smiling at her friend, knowing full well she didn't really want pictures of the deasert scenery.

The Black Hawk helicopter banked sharply as it turned towards the base and Alex watched as the side of the mountain opened once again. Alex couldn't help but be impressed once again, although he'd seen it happen almost every day, however looking around at the others he sensed a distinct a lack of interest. Possibly because they'd been looking at it for years, or it occurred to Alex that maybe they'd been whiteness to rather more impressive cover-ups.

Arriving in the spacious hanger they quickly passed the rows of aircraft and made their way into a debriefing room where they waited to be, well, debriefed. Corporal Red wasn't far behind them though, so they weren't waiting too long.

"I think I owe a few of you drinks!" Red said as he came in laughing. They had two training officers, Corporals Red and Blue. Red was an ex-SAS commando, although the reasons for him leaving were unknown to the group. He was a person who seems to understand what the kids were going through, as he was one of the youngest to ever be accepted into the SAS. This allowed him to relate well to them and become 'one of the lads' amongst the team; in fact he was so close that he'd been taking bets on whether he could spot the convoy or not from the chopper. The score was around 26/23 to him in overall bets, but the team had been getting better, loosing only one bet out of their last five.

Blue was a strict female officer that had the unfortunate role of being the 'bitch' officer. She was a much older officer, and really didn't seem to understand the mind of a child, let alone the mind of a child spy. Ironically, she actually came from the 'army cadet' (ACF) background in England, and was very adept in many of the skills that UNITI team members were expected to learn, making her a useful officer, even if she was a cow. Luckily, it was only Red present at the moment, Blue was away on leave, it being close to Christmas and all.

Red went through the usual debriefing; _good team work, slightly off target, bad conditions, generally impressive_, before moving on to the Curaçao mission.

"Ok, those of you involved with our Caribbean mission please retain your seats, those of you who aren't, you're dismissed." There was a general murmur and a few chair scrapes as those unselected for the mission left, giving a few people evil glances as they went. Six remained; Conner, Mya, Diego, Lisa, Daniel, and Alex.

"So, as per usual, Dan, you'll be in charge," he said turning to Daniel who had walked in with him at the start of the de-briefing, " and Lisa, you're 2IC (A/N: 2nd In Command)" this time looking to her. "Your mission is just some basic desert exercises. Surveillance, tracking, survival… the usual." he said as if it was child's play, "but you will also be acting as backup on Alex's recovery mission."

The room suddenly went dead quiet. Alex had tried to avoid answering any questions as to the details of Trista's mission since they hadn't been disclosed to the other members of UNITI. Luckily they had worked out that Alex wasn't allowed to talk about it, and they stopped asking after a day or so.

"The details of Alex's mission are still classified, but you will be in radio contact with Alex throughout your time on the island, and if he requests backup or help at any point, your orders are to drop the exercise you are currently working on, and come to his aid." A nodding of heads followed in the short pause, including a determined smile from Lisa, as she looked sideways, catching Alex's eye.

"You have five hours to pack for the journey, meeting back in this room at 14 hundred hours. This time you can throw the usual 'pack light' rule out the window, because you are going as tourists. A suitcase has been placed in each of your rooms, and you are to fill it as full as you wish. You also need to pack a hand luggage to take on the plane, remember it's a nine hour flight from Amsterdam, and I don't thinkI need to remind you that you're not to open your mission dossiers on the flight." He paused to catch his breath. "Speaking of dossiers, you will find one on each of your desks, and inside you will find your passports and your false identity. There will also be a sheet covering the identities of your team mates." This time he stopped and looked directly at the team.

"Learn them! From the time you leave this base to the time you get back you will use those names for each other. You muck that up and you could compromise the whole mission, including Alex's." Alex knew this was an extremely fierce warning, basically saying _'you compromise the mission, you never see Trista again'_…

_**Reviewers Corner:**_

**_Lady-Firehair:_** Thanx, the holiday was great! Hope urs was just as good! Anyway, back to this complimentary review thingy. I like them, but what I really need it feedback on how to improve my writing. So, say how much you like it, then tell me what you don't like as well. How else can I make it better?

**_Deville: _**Sorry, but I actually didn't have this chapter written out till a couple of days ago, so sending it to you was pretty much impossible. Glad you like it so much though! Oh, and you don't need to address it like a letter, 'dear writer' just feels too formal.

**_Julia:_** lol when I say 'fuckin legend' its just slang for somebody people look up to and respect. But I s'pose the guys could see him as a kind of legend considering his 'legendary' reputation. Good spot, I never saw it like that!

**_Deville (second time):_** Sometimes FF is slow to update the stories (hence the review above I guess). Romance, well I've been scheming, and I'm slowly thinking it through. I'm keeping my options open, but fitting Sabina (as much as I like her) into this fic is proving to be harder than it sounds. Any suggestions are welcome! And don't worry, the action and progression of the story are the two main parts of this story, the romance would only be a subplot to spice it up a bit. And as I said to Lady-Firehair, if I don't get criticism, I can't improve, so I really can't be offended by reviews, so no sweat.

**_books4me:_** Thanx! I think I'm probably gonna need luck to get this to a satisfactory end, but I'm gonna try! Yeh, the age difference is a bit strange, but what the hell, it gives it a unique edge… well, that's my excuse anyway!

**_MaStEr-WoLfIe: _**lol, well that's for the review(s), and I'm afraid cliffhangers are the only reason I can keep people reading this, so I'm afraid they're staying! No, I dint know what the 6th book is going to be called, or even if this is one (its only speculation) And thanx, but I can't say I've thought of taking writing past internet sites to be honest lol, I don't think my attention span would quite cover a whole book! Thanx anyway!

**_Anna: _**well, first of all, as I've said to Deville, I'm not planning to make this a major romance thing, its definitely going to be just a subplot. I can see your point about it being clichéd, but what's wrong with James Bond? Lol don't worry though, I've taken what you've said onboard. Yes I'm English, and yes my spelling is appalling, so I'm relying on my spellchecker, Sorry! Lastly, I'm making the chapters as long as I can, but if I feel like I need to post something, id rather post a short piece to keep you lot occupied and then post a longer one next time, than not post for a week and end up with a mega long post at the end of the second week. That's my view on it anyway! Thanx for the review!

**_Honey Nut Loop: _**yeh, I thought Alex needed a rank, and I thought it would be natural to inspire the new agents with stories of an undefeated spy. Well, he deserves it doesn't he!

**_Xarilyn:_** AGAIN…(what is it with you ppl and romance lol) the romance wont be a major part of the plot, more of a sub-plot. And just for the record, I haven't decided with who, or even the details of it yet. If I'm gonna put it in, it is gonna effect the plot a little, so I need it to fit. I'm still working on it, and if I can't make it fit, it aint happening!

I must thank everyone who reviewed, and for those who aren't reviewing, I don't bite, and as I said to a few ppl above, if you don't tell me what to change, I can't change it! So, any suggestions, as usual, review with them, or my email is on my profile.

So, get reviewing and pack your swimming things! We're off to the Caribbean next chapter! Hehe!


	7. Arrivals

Ok, so just over a week since my last update. I'm sorry, but I'm winding up to the rescue mission, so I've been working on that a bit, just to make sure it doesn't disappoint. Still, here's the next chapter in this story. Hope you enjoy!

_**Tuesday, 7th December, 21:34  
Dr. Albert Plesman Airport, Curaçao,  
**__**Netherlands Antilles**_

The air hit the UNITI team even before they got to the door of the plane. The shear humidity after the harsh dry air of the 9-hour transatlantic flight was enough for most people to choke on their first breath. Second to hit them was the temperature. After getting on the plane in Schiphol, Holland's largest international airport, at temperatures of around 4 degrees Celsius, many of the passengers had absentmindedly kept their thick clothing on, only to be hit with a 26-degC blast of air as they left the aircraft.

The 6 weary team members made their way slowly down the metal steps, watching each step closely since it had obviously just rained, leaving them extremely slippery. The flight hadn't been as easy a procedure as they'd hoped. First, their connecting flight from Holland to Curaçao was delayed overnight due to 'engine difficulties'. Luckily this gave the team time to review their identities in the luxury of a 4star hotel. On the down side, this put them immediately behind time, even before they'd got to the island, and so meant Trista would probably have to endure one extra day of captivity, that was if she was still alive…

The flight itself wasn't exactly a party either. Since they could do no preparation work in public, they just had to sit around for the duration, wasting time. Something that they had been trained not to do for good reason.

Alex, after working out which emergency escape would get him out fastest after taking into account of fitness and likelihood of panic of each individual passenger around him (the left front exit), he had simply settled down to watch the sun set over the distant horizon. Other members, like Mya, decided to play games like _'how many bags of peanuts can you steal from the trolley as it passes without being spotted'._ Admittedly a very fun game, but when you're trying to keep a low profile its not exactly a wise game to be playing, something Dan was quick to point out. From then on he had Mya and Diego, who had also been playing, in the palm of his hand, threatening to put their 'game' into his report if they did anything else risky on the flight.

The group walked across the tarmac of the airstrip towards the main terminal building, the words 'BON BINI' emblazoned on a large sign placed on the roof of the building. As they got closer they spotted the viewer's gallery, an open-air room on the second floor with only a low brick wall and chicken wire separating the 'spectators' from the airstrip itself.

"Is it just me, or does anyone else feel extremely open just here?" Lisa said primarily to Alex since she was walking next to him. She had a point too, Alex doubted if any of the people in that gallery had been through any security features, meaning it would have been extremely easy to sneak a gun up there.

"Bienvenido a Curaçao!" Alex replied, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.

The pair laughed as they entered the 'non' air-conditioned terminal, to be immediately faced with three queues of tired, cranky passengers. They were queuing for three different passport desks, and after a quick assessment of each queue, Lisa walked straight over to the furthest line from the door.

"Why are you making us walk so far Lisa!" Mya wined as she slugged over, leaning on Alex in an attempt to stay upright, as the fatigue associated with long haul fights seemed to hit her all at once, but only as she got off the plane.

"Because, _'Heather',_" Lisa said, emphasising Mya's false name, since she'd forgotten to address Lisa as her cover name of Marianne, "if you'd bother to look at the queues, you'd notice that this one has the least number of people in it."

Mya gave a small 'Oh' before literally falling asleep on Alex, who instinctively put his arm round her. Broad smiles came over the whole group at the sheer 'cuteness' of Mya.

"I do believe you've made a friend there Lee!" Diego said in a totally fake posh English accent, making everyone, including a few people around them, laugh.

Lisa, or Marianne, was right about the queue, it disappeared twice as fast as the other two lines, not that it really mattered, since the luggage reclaim didn't start moving until ten minutes after they'd gone through the desks, and even then, it took another five minutes before the first piece of luggage came off the flight. By the time they had all their cases, Mya was sleeping resting her head on Lisa's lap, her body and legs streached over Diego.

Then came the first test of their training, renting a car. By law, you couldn't rent a car until you were 21 yeas old, meaning Alex, being the eldest, obviously wasn't legible. Using a fake driver's licence he managed to persuade the rent-a-car company to rent him out a car. Except, with 6 people, they didn't have a car that would fit 6 people, so he was rented out a van instead, much to the dismay to the group, except Mya, who was still out for the count.

"I can't believe this!" Dan complained on the way into the city, "we're one of the most elite strike teams in the world, and we get a bloody shell with a moped engine to drive round in!"

Alex could see his point; the van was more like a moped with a rather large plastic shell and too many seats. The engine really wasn't up to taking the 6-person cargo it had onboard, let alone the 9 person maximum capacity. But he could also see the funny side to the situation; it really was ironic that one of the best skilled teams in the world was being made to drive round in possibly the world's most useless van.

"Oh lighten up! Least you're not the one who has to drive it!" Alex said at the same time as laughing.

Needless to say, Dan didn't stop complaining until they reached their hotel, which, of course, he complained about (_'Shabby looking'_) even as they approached.

The 'Plaza Hotel Curaçao', or 'Tropen Hotel' wasn't exactly the best to look at from the outside, but that was probably the only reason this 3-star hotel wasn't 4-star. The main entrance hall was genuinely impressive. As you walk in the first thing you see are the ceiling fans, doesn't sound impressive, but when you take into account that each fan blade was an intricately weaved leaf paddle, and that each fitting consisted of not one fan facing down, but two, back to back, facing to the side, the blades turned so they waft air downwards instead of across the ceiling. Now take into account that there's a line of 20 or so of these fittings, the sight literally hypnotized the already dozy Mya back to sleep. And that was just the ceiling.

Dan, who had even stopped complaining at the first sight of the fans, checked the group into their rooms. 3 in total, each with two single beds in. The sleeping arrangement was the two girls, Lisa and Mya together, Dan and Diego (who wasn't too happy about it) in the second room, and Alex with Conner in the last. The rooms were adjacent, and there were doors connecting the rooms, so during the day, the team could use it as quite an effective operations base.

When the porters, it took more than one, had moved their trunks up to the room and been tipped, the group was left alone. Dan's first move was to open all the connecting doors. Unfortunately, Lisa had been helping Mya get undressed at the time, and Dan had managed to walk in on the semi naked 13-year-old girl, something Lisa didn't find the least bit amusing.

"We're separated for a reason you know!" she shouted through the door she had immediately closed, not worrying that she almost caught Dan's fingers in the frame.

A few moments later, Lisa and a more modestly clothed Mya walked through the door.

"Hi girls," Dan started, "sorry about…" but Lisa cut him off.

"Just get on with it!" She snarled, slightly more viciously than she meant to, but it got the point across. Slightly flustered, Dan started again.

"Welcome to Curaçao!" He said, a small smile playing on his face, but no one returned it, they were all to tired.

"Well, it seems you all need some sleep, so I s'pose that's the first point of call, but tomorrow we need to be up so we can help Alex find out where and who exactly are holding Trista." There were a few nods of heads.

It was true that they didn't really know who exactly was holding Trista. She had been sent on what they thought would be a simple reconnaissance mission to find out some more about a small time drug lord both MI6 and the CIA had been watching. However, Trista couldn't find any information that would be useful to either authority, so she had been ordered to infiltrate one of their buildings. She had turned off her GPS tracker to reduce the risk of being detected, but she obviously hadn't been careful enough…

"Once Alex has a plan in place, we'll be on standby to assist him, but only if its absolutely necessary. We don't want them to know that there's a whole force of us, it may compromise the whole project." He could see he was fighting a loosing battle as his team member's eyelids drooped ominously; Mya was already asleep against Lisa's shoulder as it was.

"Ok, I can take a hint, I'll see you all in breakfast at, lets say, 0600?" there was a general murmur of agreement, "Ok, goodnight people!"

With that, the 3 pairs went to their separate rooms, and all but Dan were asleep within the next half hour. Although, this suited Dan perfectly. If any of them had still been awake, they would have heard Dan exit the room, and may have even heard the lift 'ding' as it opened for him.

_**Reviewer's Corner:**_

**_cocopops:_** I know you reviewed for the chapter before last, but I couldn't leave you out. Hopefully you liked the chapter just before this just as much as you liked the one before that. How does he react? Well, we all know he's got a pretty level head, so in my eyes I think he'd be modest about it. What d'you think?

**_liveandletlive: _**the island of Curacao is about 40km north of Caracas in Venezuela. If you need any more accuracy than that, it's a real place, so look it up in an atlas, or on the Internet. Romance, well, I'm playing with the idea. Some people are for it, some against, and as I see it, its as much you guy's story as mine. So, as I say, I'm playing with the idea.

**_Honey Nut Loop:_** Thanx! And I'm sure Alex would say the same if he knew you felt he deserved the rank lol. Yeh, as I was saying to liveandletdie above, there's been such a mixed response to romance, I'm just playing at the mo, but I can totally see your point. We don't want this to actually turn into a James Bond fic lol.  
Katysays22: aww thanx! This is why I write! To get response like this! Oh, and for the fun of it of course… ahem 

**_Anna: _**well hopefully this chappie is just as good as the last. (coz I can't tell till I get feedback lol) I just hope it's a fast enough up date for you!

**_Books4me:_** Thanx for the encouragement, I'm working on the rescue mission as we speak, so I hope it turns out ok as much as you do! Lol

**_Maroonedpirate11:_** top 5! I'm honoured! You be sure to tell me if I slip out of that elite band! (and hopefully why as well,) so I can do sommit about it lol

Ok guys, the mission's commin up fast, its either in the next chapter, or the one after that. One things for sure, the way I've planned it, the mission should take place over 2 chapters, so there's a huge likelihood that the first half is in the next chappie. So make sure you catch it! And don't forget to tell me how crappy you think this chapter is, coz, as I say every time, I can't get better unless you tell me what to improve!

See you next chapter!


	8. Awakening

_I've decided something I think. Wednesday evening is becoming my update time from now on (for the record, its Tuesday night right now, so I'm early) simply because it's the night where I can literally stay up till the wee early hours if I need to finish the chapter. That way I can make sure I put out a chapter per week. Any objections, then please review with your concerns or email me (see hyperlink on profile). Actually, thinking about it, I could do with an editor for this story, so if anyone's willing to work a little for a preview of the next week's chapter while everyone else is stuck with the current chapter, email me. Just a thought, but anyway, here's the story!_

_Enjoy!  
_

**NB: 1st revised edition (06/02/2005) Apparently my Spanish wasnt too hot, gimme a break, its been over 2 years! Luckally, i have a reviewer (Honey Nut Loop) who was able to help me with it. Points to Honey Nut Loop as an example of a perfect reviewee i thought she should have some recognition.**

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 0600  
Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles**_

The team were woken the next morning by a series of alarms, one per person. However, the effect of having a team of secret agents in adjoining rooms with the exact same time on every watch, clock, and piece of electronic equipment, is that when they all set their alarms to wake up at a certain time, those alarms go off at the same time. Loudly.

"Bloody hell!" Alex, being the only one not used to this, got the fright of his life when the combined sound of the alarm clocks hit him full blast. Conner, his roommate, seemed less shocked however.

"Top o' the mornin' to ya!" he shouted over the alarms. He leant over to his bedside table and turned off his own alarm, diminishing the collective sound somewhat.

"How can you be so cheerful at..." Alex checked his watch, "six in the morning!" Groaning, Alex led back down, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Aah," Conner said, waving his hand as if waking up to a noise the sound level of a foghorn was an everyday occurrence. "If ya tink I'm cheerful, ye should wait till ya see the girls!" he said chuckling.

Slowly, the multitude of alarms ceased as the 6 finally got out of bed, some in better moods than others.

"RIGHT! YOU TWO!" a voice came barking from the area near the connecting door as it opened. "I want you up and in here, NOW!"

"Mornin' Dan!" Conner said even more cheerfully. Turning round, Alex saw bags under Dan's eyes, a clear cause of his bad temper.

"Bad night sleep?" Alex asked, trying to be serious, but unfortunately some sarcasm crept through. Dan just glared at him, then spun, walking heavy-footed back into his own room.

"Strange, he's usually a mornin' person." Conner said, half tripping as he tried to put on a pair of cargo shorts, and promptly falling over moments later, getting his foot stuck in the leg.

"How the hell are you a sniper?" Alex asked, watching with disbelief the half dressed bundle of struggling flesh on the floor. "You're about as subtle as a toddler!" Alex stared at Conner as he attempted to put both feet into the same leg hole. "With the dexterity to match!"

"Yeh," said Conner, slightly annoyed at himself with his mistake, "but can you hit a target the size of a bottle cap from 300 meters with an iron sight?" Alex had to admit that that was, well, impressive, but he did have to wonder how Conner passed a lot of the SAS style training.

A few minutes later, Conner and Alex were waiting in the central room with Diego and a yawning, but still cranky, Dan. As Dan yawned for what had to be the fifteenth time in 5 minutes, Alex decided to ask about Dan's poor sleep again.

"What _were_ you up to last night Dan?" Dan's reaction was somewhat unexpected. He froze for a second, mid yawn, luckily, this disguised the action of his freezing very well, and the other two didn't notice a thing.

"Just couldn't sleep." He replied, his voice 'matter-of-factly', which would have normally covered the excuse quite well, but his previous mood meant everyone instantly noticed it. "I was just thinking a lot," he said looking down for a second, "I couldn't get Trista out my mind…"

Alex couldn't quite decipher if this was another cover, but if it was, it was a very good one. He gave Dan the benefit of the doubt, since Trista seemed to be a regular occurrence in his own thoughts as well, but there was definitely something up with Dan. Alex just couldn't work out what it was.

Moments later the two girls walked into the room through their door as if they were perfectly entitled to the extra quarter of an hour they'd spent 'getting ready'.

"We're here for a reason girls!" Dan said in his most boss-like voice, "every minute we waste faffing around is another minute Trista has to stay locked up." The second sentence was said calmly enough, but the effect was instant and powerful. The room was suddenly very silent, the girls looking genuinely guilty.

"Ok," Dan started, going into 'mission briefing' mode, "today's mission is to locate Trista. We have her last movements on computer, so we know the general area she might have gone missing, but other than that we have no other leads than this symbol." He said turning the laptop he had been working on before the girls' arrival towards the team.

On the screen was the symbol that still haunted Alex's nightmares, the symbol of a previous, thought extinct, criminal power.

"The _Scorpio_," Dan said, oblivious to Alex's obvious recognition of the symbol, "this is the logo of an old terrorist and criminal power by the name of…" Dan would have continued, but Alex cut him off.

"Scorpia." Alex didn't really know what to think. This was a part of his life that he thought he'd laid to rest, finding it in front of him and finding someone else in his position, it was slightly overwhelming.

"I'm sorry Alex, who's taking this briefing?" Dan said with an air of hostility, waking Alex from his shocked state.

"I'll remind you Agent Mason," Alex responded with equal hostility, Scorpia seemed to have brought out his anger again, "that I am the more experienced field agent, and of a much higher rank than you, so if I decide to take this briefing there's not much you can do about it!"

Dan looked like he'd been slapped, and really didn't know how to respond, so Alex took the opportunity.

"Infiltrating Scorpia was that last mission I was involved with before retiring from service, and they had a big hand in that decision as well." Alex said, getting up and standing at the front of the group next to a bewildered Dan. "The organisation had branches in nearly every major country and had a share in nearly all the major business deals in the few years before I was sent in. It was a major terrorist organisation who, four years ago, threatened and attempted to carry out an attack that would have killed every child in a large area of London when the American government refused to bend to their demands."

The team before him, including Dan behind him, looked quite shocked at this news, especially Mya since she'd grown up in London and had realised that she would have been one of the children killed.

"They found out I was a spy and attempted to eliminate me. I managed to escape and somehow halt the attack on London with the help of MI6 backup. However, we only succeeded in taking down a small branch of Scorpia, and they still knew I was a spy." He drew a deep breath, his hand going to the scar on his chest unconsciously, "They attempted to assassinate me a week after the incident and I spent the next 8 months in an MoD hospital bed recovering with a hole in my chest."

The UNITI members had never herd the reason for Alex's departure from MI6, indeed, not many personnel in MI6 that knew of Alex's existence knew the real reason. The encouraged rumour was that he had simply walked out of his own free will, and was placed into the usual spy protection and public reintegration program. Others simply thought him dead.

"MI6 kept me informed on their 'Bug Catcher' operation, and they claimed Scorpia had been disbanded by its constituent groups due to unrest and distrust. Eventually, MI6 didn't have much to do as the different organisations destroyed each other, leaving only scraps for the MI6 forces to deal with."

Alex turned round to see Dan listening intently, a concentrating look on his face, obviously this wasn't something he'd been told.

"In the end, I was assured that all remnants of Scorpia had been eradicated, so to find them still in operation…" Alex tried to describe his feelings, but gave up after a few seconds; it wasn't like they really needed to know about them. "…well, it's a surprise I'll tell you that much."

"That view is shared by quite a few nations," Dan said from behind him, "they didn't know if it was, indeed, Scorpia starting back up again, or some unfortunate underground organisation that simply chose to use the symbol unwittingly. That's why Trista was sent in, to find out."

Alex decided that these probably weren't all the facts; Mrs Jones wasn't the sort of person to give more than the minimum required information, and especially when the information was as sensitive as this.

"But anyway, that isn't our problem right now, we can let someone else find that out, our priority is Trista." Alex said, trying to dismiss his own nagging need for knowledge. He needn't have bothered.

"Well, actually," Dan said it so quietly that Alex wasn't exactly sure if he'd said it, or maybe he just wished he hadn't, "I've been told to brief you to finish Trista's mission as well as the rescue mission."

"Somehow I don't think so." Alex said, almost laughing. "I was briefed quite thoroughly by the head of your division and her commanding officer before I even met you guys. I was briefed only for the rescue, and that's all I'm going to carry out, I'm not putting Trista's life in jeopardy by increasing the chances of me being caught."

It seemed Dan agreed with Alex's reasons for not following the orders he'd been told to give him. But, out of obligation, Dan was forced to brief Alex, whether Alex followed the order or not wasn't Dan's problem. In the end Alex agreed that, if asked, Dan had briefed him, but Alex chose not to follow the order due to the priority and severity of his pervious order.

After the briefing for Alex, Dan continued to brief the rest of the team. He showed them Trista's last movements on the laptop, and then told them that their GPS palmtops they'd all been issued also had the route marked on it. They were each assigned different areas of the route to scout out and survey. The plan was for the members of the UNITY team, minus Alex, were to take a look around each area before Alex travelled the whole route, collecting each person's intel as he passed, which would hopefully be useful when he reached the end of Trista's route.

Only an hour later the 5 members of the scouting team were in place and doing their job. Alex however, had some time to use up before he could collect their recon reports. Luckily, he had someone to go see, someone he hadn't seen for 4 years.

"Hola Alex! Comoestas mi amigo viejo?"

"Bien gracias, y tu?" Alex responded in perfect Spanish, taking a seat across from the man.

"Estoy bien también." He said, rubbing his hands together as he sat at the restaurant over a rather large breakfast dish. "Bueno…"

"Smithers, I think its ok to speak English in an American hotel restaurant," Alex looked around, "although, whatever the language, I think we're going to stick out anyway." The restaurant was totally deserted, it being only 0630.

"True…" Smithers said, looking decidedly downhearted at not getting the opportunity to practice his Spanish, but the thought of what was coming ahead made a grin split his face once again.

"So, what're you up to nowadays? Designing yet more handy gadgets for the lucky kids of the UNITI team?" Alex asked smiling at the plump man opposite.

"Only once unfortunately," Smithers replied downhearted again, "well, twice now, but its not quite the same. I haven't been able to work on covert stuff quite yet, since UNITI seems to want just the same as the SAS, lightweight, efficient tools, not the fun stuff…" he quickly shook himself from the glazed-over look he'd adopted as he thought of his previous gadgets for Alex.

"Dan said you had something for me?" Alex asked, excited to finally use real combat gadgets.

"Yes indeed! Quite a few in fact." Smithers rummaged around under the table and eventually pulled a large, mouldy looking rucksack onto the table, just missing his plate of sausages by inches. The bag looked full.

"All that?" Alex said laughing, "You realise I have to sneak into this place! Carrying that lot is more likely to get me noticed!"

"No no," Smithers said, pulling out a smaller, compact black rucksack from the innards, "this one's yours."

He laid it out on the table in front of Alex, carefully avoiding the small vase of fake flowers in the centre, and also his own breakfast.

"Item one," said Smithers proudly, "A virtually indestructible backpack." Smithers was literally jumping up and down in his seat at the thought, "It's made of a new Kevlar composite, stronger and lighter than ever, and we've even thrown in a few super-lightweight ceramic plates to make it even more resistant to small arms fire." He tapped the pack with his hand to produce a satisfying knocking sound.

"This will give you a defence in the face of a gun, and a very good one at that, we've had light machinegun rounds fired at these babies in the gulf, and although the wearer was covered in bruises, he lived to tell the tale.

"So does that mean you think I'm going to be shot at?" Alex asked, alarmed.

"Now Alex, don't go putting words in my mouth, we just want you to be prepared, we can't go loosing another top agent now can we." He turned quickly back to the pack.

"The design also keeps the walls quite ridged, so it's going to hug your back as it were, keeping the room taken up by the pack as little as possible."

The backpack seemed quite small, but as Smithers opened it up, he saw he could fit a surprising amount inside.

"Item two," said Smithers, sliding a small combat knife from a cleverly concealed sheath on the side of the pack, "an all-in-one infiltration kit." He said proudly.

"Looks like a knife to me," said Alex, slightly amused.

"Yes, and a very sharp one at that, but it also has other features. It's made of ceramic and carbon fibre, so its extremely strong and invisible to metal detectors, as is everything I'm giving you," he said matter-of-factly.

"The other features are hidden in the handle," as he said this he slid off the bottom of the grip, from which a series of tools presented themselves.

"Screwdriver bits designed to fit on the tip of the knife blade for ease of use, lock picks, long burn matches, mirrors for looking round corners, and my favourite, bubblegum!" Smithers said happily, taking out a piece.

"This wouldn't be the old 'bubblegum flavoured plastic explosive' would it?" Alex asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Indeed it would," Smithers confessed, "but don't go blowing any bubbles. Once you put it in your mouth, the enzymes in your saliva will make the gum 'live' as we say. If the gum dries up, and it only takes a few seconds to do so in the open air, the explosion would be enough to blow your face apart, or destroy any locks you're having trouble picking." He said smiling cunningly.

"Third," he said, replacing the gum and knife to the sheath, and then taking out a series of small disks from a pouch on the other side-panel of the pack, "these are 'flash-bang' grenades, perfectly designed for throwing." He picked one up, demonstrating the 'flying saucer' shape, and then indicated to a small red disk set into the top.

"This is the detonator, press it once and once you let your thumb up from it you have 5 seconds to get rid of it before you blow your hand off. When it does go off, it makes an immensely large bang and an extremely bright flash, stunning everything and everyone in the immediate vicinity for the next minute or two. You have 6 in total, in the easy to access, downward feeding pouch on your pack." Alex couldn't help thinking of those cheesy TV adverts as Smithers continued to 'demonstrate'.

"When you want one, simply reach behind you to the side of the pack and slide one out." He said this as if it were just as easy as picking one up off the table. Somehow, Alex doubted it.

When Smithers had put the grenades back in their pouch, he took a full set of clothes out his own moulding pack.

"These," he said, brandishing a pair of tracksuit bottoms, a t-shirt, a thin hoodie, and a pair of trainers, "aren't for you." Alex was puzzled.

"Who are they for then?" his question was answered as Smithers pulled out the next two pieces of clothing.

"Well, you could wear them, but I don't think you'd find the girls panties very comfortable, and the bra's probably a bit big for you…" Smithers said with a mixture of humour and seriousness as he placed the clothes in the pack.

"Do I want to know why I'm packing clothes for Trista?" Alex said somewhat apprehensively. Smithers looked at him with a kind face.

"Its just something we think you should be prepared for," he said quietly, "but, she may have been wearing the same clothes for two weeks now, I dare say she wouldn't mind changing them." Smithers seemed a little happier when he said this, but still not his usual joyful self.

"I've one last thing to give you, but it's simply a replacement of something you have already." Smithers said, shaking himself out of the mood that had just overcome them both. "Can I have your palmtop please?" he said, sticking out his hand at the same time.

Alex took the palmtop out his trouser pocket, handing it to Smithers, who handed him one back that looked exactly the same.

"There are two subtle differences to this model," Smithers said, indicating to the palmtop in Alex's hands. "First, its not detectable by metal detectors, something we couldn't do when we first issued the palmtops, and secondly, the signal that this palmtop sends to the GPS satellites is a secure one, meaning you can use it anywhere without the risk of you showing up on anyone else's scanner, but at the same time, you can still spot their signal." Smithers reached into his pack one last time and produced a small button that looked like it should have been sewn onto a shirt collar.

"This is a GPS transmitter, the signal sent from this button can be picked up on your palmtop just like the other palmtops in your team, and likewise, your team mates can also see this bug as a purple dot, as apposed to the usual red dot of a team member. Again, the signal is secure, so only your team's GPS scanners will pick up the bug."

Smithers gave Alex the button bug, which was then put it snugly in one of the small outer pockets of the pack.

"Well, that seems to be all I have for you at the moment." Smithers said somewhat gloomily, but saw his plate of sausages and immediately perked up. "Do come back soon, I like working with you!"

Alex laughed and got up, picking the rucksack up and wore it for the first time, a surprisingly snug and comfortable feeling.

"Its nice isn't it?" Smithers said with a mouthful of sausage, "it was a favourite of both your father and uncle."

His comment had been so casual that Alex almost missed it, but as he realised what Smithers had just said he came to realise, he was becoming more and more like his relatives now, a spy, maybe with the same end.

Noticing Alex's downhearted, glazed over expression, Smithers spoke once more.

"They would both have been very proud of you, not just for what you've done for your country, but for your willingness to use your skills to help others, like Trista."

Smithers' words had a marked change in Alex's total attitude and position on what he was doing that day. Alex found comfort in the feeling that his Dad and Uncle had once walked the path he was travelling, and that they would have been pleased, proud even, with him for joining them on it.

Alex walked out the hotel in high spirits. For the first time in his life, he was safe in the knowledge that he was doing this, not out of obligation or pressure, but out of free choice. The realisation was amazing, and for the first time for years, Alex felt free.

"This is for you Uncle, Dad."

Something changed that day for Alex, and, although he didn't realise it at the time, it would totally change his life from that moment on.

* * *

_**Reviewer's Corner:**_

**_Lady-Firehair:_** I'm glad you're enjoying it, and as for the sad lack of romance, well, don't give up hope yet. Just know that if it happens, its not going to be a major part of the story, more a sub-plot. Yeh, I took notes, plus I used to live on the island, so I sorta know it quite well as it is. Hehe what a cheat I am!

**_Bacon Yu A Pie: _**I can't say I noticed how many times she fell asleep, but no more than her character should have. Well, not in my mind's eye anyway. I think I was just trying to get across the point that she was really cute lol.

**_Gunner10000: _**Your favourite! faints That's quite a lot to live up to, but you tell me if I let you down! Thanx for recommending the story, just remind them to review! I like reviews! rubs hands in glee lol I'll try to be more descriptive for ya, this chapter isn't that great for it, but I'll try more next chapter!

**_Honey Nut Loop: _**another person who feels this is their fav AR fic! I might just curl up and hide away from the pressure! Ok, as I said to the other one of you (see above) its your (collective) responsibility to tell me if I slip up with my writing, with an early warning system like you guys I should be able to keep the standard you expect. Well, lol, I think your just gonna have to wait a while to find out what Dan's up to. Feel free to keep guessing though, I aint giving anything away though! Lol

**_Magic Noden: _**lol, I'd be happy to reply to you, but you generally have to give me something to reply to lol. I've reviewed your story, so you can find my comments on it there. Oh and 'LOL' to you too! Hehe

**_ClaysGirlEver: _**I'm glad you find the story so entertaining, is there anything you think I could do to improve it though? Like, would you prefer some romance, I need people's opinions to create a story you guys will wanna read. And don't give me that "the story's fine the way it is" rubbish lol, if I was that good I'd be published by now lol! Plus it's a huge compliment, and if you say it too much I might grow a large head lol. And that really is a bad thing! Lol

**_Carpidiem:_** who says I can do better than you? Try posting your story, coz then people can help you improve. I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out a better writer than me Mr 'I speak Latin' lol. I'm glad you enjoy the story anyway, that's the whole point I'm here!

_Ok, so that's it for another week people! Just remember to look me up on Thursday morning/afternoon/IT lesson next week. Plus, remember that I'm looking for an editor, so any offers should be directed to my email (see hyperlink in profile). I'm really looking for someone to kick me up the ass when I'm late with chapters, and preferably someone who can spell better than I can, and also has a grasp of staying in one tense for longer than a paragraph, coz I'm crap at that too lol._

_Oh, and above all that, even if you can't be bothered to edit this thing, please remember to REVIEW, please… I need your comments to improve the story! (You don't understand, I really do! lol) So, yeh, REVIEW! please…_


	9. Message in a Palmtop

I know! I Know! I'm sorry it took me so long! But the good news is that I've got the next chapter finished as well, so that'll go up later this week (needs quite a bit of editing). To be honest I had a bit of writer's block for this chapter, I just wanted to get it over with so I could start the proper mission chapters, which meant I didn't know what to write… if that makes any sense…

Anyway, it's written now! So…enjoy!

(And sorry again guys!)

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 07:39  
Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles**_

Alex walked through the masses of American tourists filing off the docked ship _'Ocean Princess'_. The ship was docked on a pontoon outside the normal harbour area, in one of the newest developents on the island. Due to the increase of tourists comming for the excelent diving on the south side of the island, the natural harbour had become too small for the ships that visited. This new development allowed these larger ships to dock, but also created a great opotunity for the locals to set up their stalls.

The newly redeveloped fort was the first thing Trista would have seen as she disembarked from the tourist ship the day she disappeared. Alex's eyes, like Trista's would have, were drawn to the possible exits or entrances. There were only two, the arches in the north and south walls, perfectly designed for defence, and put to good use in forcing the tourists through the centre of the fort, where a multitude of overpriced cafés and souvenir stalls littered the cobbled floor. Alex spotted a local man with a snake round his shoulders trying to encourage people to hold the snake, charge them 5 dollars for the trouble, and then another 5 for a Polaroid. Alex guessed that this guy must have made at least a couple hundred American Dollars every day, a salary most the shop owners probably didn't make.

The inside of the fort seemed a strange mix of old and new, with the centuries old stone walls mixing with the newly cut and worked wood that the stalls, cafés and other buildings were built of. On the seaward wall, the wood almost obscured the stone as it created a second floor, the wall as its foundation. Checking his new palmtop, Alex noted that Trista had stayed up there for quite a while before venturing into the city, probably having breakfast in one of the restaurants. But it wasn't her trail he was looking to find at that moment, it was Dan's.

"James, this is Lee, d'you copy? Over." Alex said into his watch. Smithers's had included a 'walky-talky' feature to the watch he'd given Alex years ago, but being outside the MI6 network, Alex had never had the chance to use it. Not 'till now that was, and to tell the truth, it seemed kinda wierd. Alex was sure it must've looked wierd as well...

"Lee, James here, what's up? Over." 'James' was Dan's cover name, so the voice that came through Alex's earpiece was, in fact, Dan's.

"I'm in Riffort, where're you? Your device isn't showing up. Over." Alex heard a nondescript grunt on the other end of the line, then saw Dan's GPS signal suddenly show up in one of the restaurants on top of the fort's southern wall, the one covered by the new timber.

"That better? Over." Alex quickly got his bearings and turned to look at the restaurant level. He could just see Dan standing, palmtop in hand, in one of the café's.

"Much, I'll be right up. Out"

"Rodger that, James out."

Alex quickly worked his way through the crowd, finding the stairs up to the restaurant level semi hidden behind by one of the café patios. Just a little professional competition between the food retailers then!

As he climbed, he almost had to throw himself to the side as a large man came running down the narrow stairwell. Normally, Alex would have called him an asshole and think nothing more of it, but there was something about how the guy looked at him that sent the warning bells ringing in Alex's ears. The man didn't stop though, and he had soon disappeared into the crowd of tourists. Shaking the feeling off, Alex continued up to meet Dan.

"What's up?" Alex said as he came up behind Dan. Turning round, Dan didn't even need to speak to tell Alex he'd found nothing.

"In a way I'm pleased," Dan said as they sat down in one of the cafés, "there's no trace of her here, not even a receipt, and the CCTV was offline the day she disappeared."

"How d'you know that?" Alex asked, slightly confused.

"I managed to sneak into the fort's security office to check their records, but the tape for that day, and the day before in fact, were blank, and both had a note on top stating the reason for the blank tape as a power supply problem."

"Are you sure that's true? Someone could have easily just exchanged the tapes and made up a simple excuse like that."

"Maybe, but even if they have, thinking about it isn't going to help you now. I've got nothing else to report, so I suggest you get going." Dan stood up, and Alex followed suit.

"See you around," Dan said, before walking off in the direction of the cruise ship. Alex went the other way, towards the Northern entrance, and the town.

Alex didn't have to walk far to find himself on the bank of the harbour just outside the fort. Looking around he could see tourists gathered around a line of stalls set up by the locals. To Alex, the wares at these stalls seemed more genuine than the souvenirs sold at the government endorsed tourist shops in the fort behind him. That may have been something to do with the individuality of each piece, being handmade, or maybe it was the friendly demeanour of the locals...

The brightly coloured garments of the Antillean people somehow kept the atmosphere light and friendly, despite the dark thunderclouds handing ominously above them. It was a well-known and recorded fact that the Antillean people hated the rain, and at the first signs of the wet stuff, they tended to run for the nearest building, refusing to move until the rain, no matter how heavy, had passed. Luckily for the locals, it only rained frequently during the 4-month wet season. Unluckily for them, and Alex, they were right slap bang in the middle of that particular season.

As Alex surveyed the sky, he silently hoped that the rain didn't come that day; it would make collecting the information he needed almost impossible. The crowds of tourists, even at this early stage of the day, would help him and the rest of the UNITI team blend in with the background. But if the rain came, forcing all the Antillean salespeople into the dry, the tourists would surely make their way inside at the same time since the attraction of the stalls would disappear, leaving nowhere for the team to hide but with the tourists, slowing the operation down.

Luckily, the rain didn't come till later that day, and the team was able to carry out the operation without any problems, well, that is if you discount the total lack of evidence so far for either Trista's or SCORPIA's existence. All but one member of the team had finished scouting their areas, but no traces of either the Scorpion symbol or Trista's movements. Still, the team had her route, so Alex continued along it, and the other team members set off on wider searches of their original areas.

Alex had only one more agent to talk to, Lisa, who had the vital task of investigating the area around where Trista had disappeared. She was a naturally talented tracker and scout, and was therefore the perfect choice for this task.

"Marianne, Lee here, over." Alex said into his watch as he made his way through the back streets of Punda, the 'east side' of Willemstad.

"You took your time Lee!" she responded, "I got bored, so I'm in one of the cafés, come join me. Over." Alex looked to his palmtop to find her signal coming from a positionjust off the high street, a few hundred meters North of him.

"Gotcha, see ya in a sec. Out."

"Roger that. Marianne out."

Alex quickly found the café, Trista's path had stalled here for a while, so there was a distinct likelihood that she'd had a drink here. One thing they did know was that it was from this café that Trista made her final path before disappearing. Maybe Lisa had found something there, possibly the same thing Trista had.

The café itself was in a small square in the middle of the original walled town of 'Fort Amsterdam'. A large beech tree, that seemed totally unplanned as it pushed cobbles aside slap bang in the centre of the road that ran through, shaded the entire square, cooling it down somewhat, and creating a climate perfect for lulling about at midday.

Alex spotted Lisa sitting right next to the trunk of the tree in one of the wicker seats that seemed to be everywhere in Willemstad. She had a drink, and seemed to be reading a book, but that was unlikely, she was a spy on assignment after all.

"Hey there," he said, taking the other seat at the small plastic table, "hope I didn't keep you waiting long." Lisa looked up from her book as if surprised at Alex's sudden appearance, again, unlikely to be true.

"Oh, heya babe." She said, smiling sweetly. Alex wasn't sure what she meant by 'babe', but let it pass.

"You look happier than everyone else." Alex commented, "We haven't been having much luck so far." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Well it looks like your day's about to get a lot better then!" Lisa said, reaching under the table and producing a rather battered looking palmtop, not unlike her own.

"This," she said, taking a wire and connecting her own palmtop to this one, "was Trista's." She turned the beaten up palmtop on, and then typed something into her own.

"How can you be sure?" Alex needn't have asked, since he knew she was about to show him, but it seemed to slip out.

"Because of this…" Lisa said, handing her palmtop to Alex.

The screen showed a document; Alex noted that it was named only with a date, but that date…

"The 25th of November," Alex said confusedly, "But the GPS track we've been following was made on the 24th…" he looked up to Lisa to find her smiling again. Why was this girl always so damn cheerful!

"Well, if you care to read the passage, you'll find out why." She said, almost laughing.

"_25th November, 0600,_

_If you're reading this, then my mission has failed…"_

"I'll give it to her," Lisa said, drawing Alex's attention, "it's a damn good opening!" Again, she was laughing. Considering this may have been the last writings of a friend of hers, Alex was lost as to see where the joke was.

_"…However I can say that the first part of my mission was successful though. I have found the HQ of the organisation. Unfortunately, the data uplink with the satellite failed some time yesterday afternoon, so I can't transmit the coordinates back to you, but I can tell you them now: 12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W. It's an old government building, so I'm guessing there's some underground rooms that aren't shown on the original blueprints for the building if you have them._

_The building came to my attention after following a man I suspected of being involved with the organisation. I spotted him at the old HardRock Café in Punda, so I suggest you look there too. He has the organisation's symbol tattooed to the inside wrist of his left hand. Yesterday afternoon I followed him back to the building in question after seeing him receive what looked and sounded like a very angry phone call. The fact that I'm now missing would probably mean I was right, so you should probably concentrate on finding and following him again, and I'd appreciate it if you looked for me at the same time._

_TM"_

Alex quickly typed the coordinates into his GPS and found the location of the building mentioned. With the town's blueprints overlaid on top of the map, he could single out the one building. It had quite a small ground space, but as with most the buildings found in the old town, it would probably have 2 or more floors to it, possibly with a basement level as well.

"I've already been to look at the building," Lisa said, once again breaking Alex's concentration, "there's not much to the outside, and definitely no way to tell if it's the right place."

"What other options do we have though?" Alex asked, knowing full well that Lisa was right.

"The guy with the tattoo." She replied simply, nodding over at one of the waiters.

Alex suddenly noticed the front of the café they were at. The wall was quite dirty, and the paint was stripping off in places, but there was a clearly defined set of words where a series of metal letters had once sheltered the wall from exposure to the sun.

"This is the old 'HardRock Café'!" he almost shouted out, then caught sight of Lisa's face again. "What are you grinning at?"

"Oh, nothing…" she quickly diverted attention by attracting the waiter's attention instead.

"Sí?" he said as he approached.

"Can we have two colas please?" Lisa said in a very American accent, probably the best cover she could have chosen considering the sheer amount of American tourists about. He nodded and picked up her now empty glass, unknowingly giving Alex a clear view of his tattoo.

"I s'pose that would cheer me up too…" Alex said, giving Lisa a knowing smile.

The man was back within a few minutes, at which time Alex had very suddenly decided to go the toilet. As the guy reached the table Alex got up, bumping into him.

"Sorry man," Alex quickly said, his accent thick with Americanism, "didn't see ya there." The guy had stumbled backwards a few yards, but he seemed ok. "While I've got ya though, could ya well me where the bathroom is?"

"At back of shop, to the right." His Spanish accent not able to hide the annoyance at Alex's arrogance, but as a waiter there wasn't much he could do.

"Gracias." Alex said, in a 'bad attempt at Spanish' sort of accent. He didn't have a particular fondness for making the Americans seem bad at other languages, but that's simply what the Americans around there were like. They tried, which, he supposed, was a good thing, and the locals appreciated it to an extent, but compared to what it was meant to sound like…

Alex made his way to the bathroom at the back of the café where the waiter had said it was, pulling his GPS out as soon as he locked himself in the cubical.

The green dot was moving into the café and Alex smiled. "Good old Smithers!"

* * *

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 10:56  
**__**12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W**_

"So, this is the place…" Alex said, slightly unimpressed. He and Lisa had just walked the half-mile to the building, following Trista's track, which they now guessed was the route she had followed the Spaniard on. They were walking very slowly past the building since they didn't want to simply stop and look at it, that might seem 'conspicuous', and Alex hadn't just gone through all that 'couple' stuff to be found out now.

They had walked the whole way arm-in-arm, Lisa's idea. She thought that they'd be less conspicuous if they looked like a couple taking a 'stroll'. Alex would have argued against it, but Lisa had already, and quite loudly, been calling him 'baby' for the last few minutes of their stop at the café. He had no grounds on which to argue, especially in front of their main lead.

The sky blue walls looked like they were crumbling, and half the terracotta roof tiles were missing. The only thing that looked like it would stand up to a storm was the front door, heavy oak with rusting iron studs. It looked like it was cut straight off the side of the large 'Tall ships' that used to sail these waters, which was probably true considering the amount of battles fought in the area for control of this small, but important, island. One of the main tourist attractions to the old government buildings was the British cannonball that was still embedded in the wall of what was then the main government building.

"Well, its not like SCORPIA has much of a budget anymore." Lisa said. Her arm was still wrapped round Alex's waist, who was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable. Acting in front of people, that was fine, but as far as he has seen, there hadn't been anyone for the last couple of blocks, and there was certainly no one here. Distracted, he started to absentmindedly guess how long Lisa and the rest of the UNITI gang had gone without having relationships, or maybe they did have them. At the same time, Alex had to wonder if Lisa had ulterior motives to her cover story idea.

A small beep from Alex's pocket sent his hand diving into it to retrieve his palmtop. "Quickly," he said quickly, "we've got company." The two quickly retreated into a small shaded alleyway opposite the building, hiding behind a conveniently placed yellow hire-skip.

Alex checked the GPS again, and sure enough, the green dot was moving right over the red route laid out by Trista two weeks previously. They could soon hear the man as he approached the building, out of breath.

"I knew it!" Lisa exclaimed under her breath, Alex quickly shushed her as he strained to try and hear what the man was doing.

As he reached the door he seemed to put out a hand onto the wall in an effort to steady himself before entering. However, the door seemed just start to open without prompting. Slowly it opened enough to let the Spaniard through, however it didn't stop or close at this point, it continued to move until it was fully open.

Alex saw his chance, possibly his only chance for quite a while, and time was precious, so without any warning he took a last glance at the GPS (the Spaniard was moving up to the second floor), and ran across the road, sliding into the building just as the door started to close. He turned round to see Lisa trying to follow, but by the time she made it to the door it had already closed too far.

"Alex…" she said forgetting operational protocol altogether.

"Just alert the others," Alex said through the ever-closing gap, "getting out might not be as easy as getting in…" And with that the door closed with quite a large thud that echoed the surprisingly grand hallway. He tried to raise her on the radio, but either there was no reception within the building, or she wasn't answering.

He was on his own.

"Just like old times!" he muttered.

_**Reviewers Corner:**_

**_liveandletlive:_** a man… yeh, I s'pose he it… he does deserve it though! (I think I better make a special apology to you considering you've had to wait the longest for this delayed chapter, so sorry! And I hope this was up to standard…)

**_Lady-Firehair_** yeh, I take pride in my in depth knowledge of Willemstad chough too bad I'm not very good at explaining what I see… well, I'm working on it! The subplot, hehehehe…hehe...he… no chance, those cards are so close to my chest that I'm having trouble seeing them! I wanna know as much as you!

**_grey waters: _**No worries, I'm actively trying to find a way of bringing Sabina back into the story, same with Maddy, but then you don't care about her lol I think they'll pop up somewhere along the way, probably to mess a few well laid plans up, but hell, that's what girls do! hides from onslaught from female readers well, that's my experience anyway lol

**_Gunner10000_** I'm glad you like it, and I am trying to keep submitting, but it's harder than it looks! Lol honestly it is!

**_DaydreamQueenMisha_**Really? You liked that. That was quite hard to write, so I'm glad _somebody_ liked it lol. And as for the amazing comment, blushes, aww your too kind!

**_Kow it all_** Howdy! I see your point, we do need to see more of Trista, well as you might have read in the _Author's Note_ at the top of the page, I've already written the next chapter (or two, I'm debating whether to post both at once like I did here), and one of them is from Trista's perspective. So, have heart, its coming!

**_Honey Nut Loop_**Oh my god! What would I do without you! I was never that good at Spanish (even though I lived in a Spanish speaking country for three years… weird!) so I'm glad someone knows what they're talking about! I've included an extra author's note at the start of chapter 8 to credit you if you wanna take a look (I don't think its too embarrassing). Please tell me if I make any more mistakes. Thank you!

**_Carpidiem_**lol, yeh, a plot is a good place to start. Something I learnt the hard way lol. Well, tell me when you do so I can take a look! I sense great things for you young grasshopper! (sorry, couldn't resist)

**_Magic Noden_**aww Thanx! blushes (I think that's the third time I've blushed, I need to stop doing that!) well, given your experience, maybe you wanna tell more ppl about the story. You'd be doing me a huge favour! (at the rate I'm putting up chapters, I need lots of new reviewers lol, some ppl are just too impatient…) Anyway, Thanx for the compliment, I'm glad your liking it so much!

And another one bites the dust! Wow, I don't think I've ever had as many reviews for one chapter! Maybe I should get writers block more often! (I'm only joking, don't kill me!) But anyway, as I said at the top, I've already written the next chapter (or two), so the wait for the next update shouldn't be longer than a couple of days. I just hope ppl still bother to review. if I get no reviews I might not bother updating you see…(yes, that is blackmail!)

No, don't worry, ill update on my usual day (Thursday) or I hope it will be one day, I'm not to good at following that rule it seems lol. But yeh, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as you've probably guessed, the next chapter(s) are the real mission, and we get to meet Trista properly.

That should tide you over till then!

Fensta


	10. Captured Trust

_So its Thursday morning, and here I am! For the first time since I said I'd do it! Amazing! _

_Again, this chapter is actually two chapters crammed together. Just a heads up though, the second chapter is from Trista's perspective. It's still 3rd person, but concentrating on her rather than Alex(I thought I'd try it for once, tell me what you think)._

_Neway, enjoy!_

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 11:03  
12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W**_

The entrance hall was quite impressive given the tatty outside. The floor looked like polished marble slabs, and the walls were tiled while. The dry, air-conditioned feel made it seem like a hotel lobby, it even had the small table set in the centre of the room with the ornamental fresh flowers, probably the only things in the room not black or white. There were two staircases; one going of to the right and up, the other was to the left and down. There was only one other door to the room other than the front door, a (surprise surprise) white wooden panelled door situated between the two stairwells at the end of the room.

Alex quickly moved to check the GPS again; the green dot was clearly a couple of meters above him. Alex knew from experience that wandering around searching without a clue of the building wasn't going to work, so he quickly made his way to the stairs leading up so he could try and overhear something useful. However halfway up the stairs the lights suddenly cut out.

Alex froze, afraid that he'd been spotted, but he soon noticed that the low him of the aircon had faded, and a very loud voice could be heard from the top of the stairs.

"BLOODY HELL!" the guy was English; the accent was enough to give that away. "Quick, go check the circuit breakers!" so that meant the power was out?

Keeping an eye on the green dot, Alex quickly moved up onto the second floor landing and ducked behind a large desk as the Spaniard burst out of some rather large and expensive double doors opposite the desk.

Peaking his head up to watch the retreating man Alex was suddenly very glad that the power had gone. A CCTV camera was pointing directly at him, the usually red operation light wasn't lit, but that didn't mean it would stay off for long.

Alex quickly vaulted back over the desk and across to the double doors that the Spaniard had appeared from. They were still open a crack and Alex peered in to spot a man standing behind an expensive looking leather-bound desk. His white handlebar moustache and hair along with his face told Alex he was in his early 50s, but the fact that he'd just punched the desk and taken a chunk out of it told Alex this was one 50 year old that he should try to avoid at all costs.

Tearing his eyes away from the piece of solid oak that had once been part of the desk, he spotted a rack of small TV screens set up along one wall, no doubt on the other end of the CCTVs. On the other side of the room there were various physical training equipments, something that didn't surprise Alex in the slightest after what he'd just seen.

He was about to quietly leave when the phone on the, now ruined, desk rang, surprising Alex and the man a little before Alex remembered that land-line phones get their power from directly down the telephone line, and therefore mostly unaffected by power cuts, or circuit breaker failure.

"Yes!" The man spat down the line, "yes, this is he…yes…what do you mean a few hours!…Look, I have a very important meeting in half an hour…no I'm afraid it's you that's going to be inconvenienced! You just wait till I get my hands on you! Hey!" it appeared that the person on the other end of the line had hung up, and Alex didn't blame them. However, it did seem that luck was on his side, and if that conversation was about the power as Alex suspected, then he had a bit more time to sneak around without worrying about the cameras.

Just then Alex heard the Spaniard's steps as he ran up the stairs, he quickly jumped back behind the desk.

"Señor, the circuit breakers are…" Alex could only guess, judging by the sound, that he'd just seen his boss knock another piece of marble off his desk.

"Yes, I know…" the Englishman said, somewhat calmly, "apparently its just this block…" he seemed to be thinking. "Go check the girl would you?"

Alex didn't like where this was going.

"Stay there until I contact you. Raven will be stopping by to pick her up in half an hour or so, make your time with her count…" Alex really didn't like the sound of that. "Here, take the torch, it might be a little dark down there."

Alex's face split into a smile. This was Alex's break, the Spaniard would lead him straight to Trista, and the dark would even help Alex to deal with him. The doors flung themselves open and the Spaniard set off downstairs with a smile that immediately wiped the pleased look off Alex's face.

Alex waited for as long as he dared before following the man, using his GPS as a map he managed to follow the Spaniard through the entrance hall and down under the building. The light faded very quickly in the stone spiral staircase, and feet made more noise than Alex anticipated, but the Spaniard didn't seem to notice, in fact, Alex was would have sworn that he was humming.

Suddenly the Spaniard's feet stopped and Alex had a hard time stopping before he made another step and gave himself away. In the silence Alex could hear what could only be the jingling of keys, then the opening of a lock. As the Spaniard's feet stared to make contact with the floor again, Alex swiftly moved down the stairs two at a time, using his arms on the walls of the staircase to soften each step until he reached the still wide open door on his right, although the stairs went further down still.

Peering round the corner Alex could see a large room split up by a series of metal gratings. Quickly checking his GPS he suddenly noticed that he had no signal and put it back in his pack, taking out the hunting knife instead. It wasn't like he would use it, but it made him look more dangerous, and that could work to his advantage.

The Spaniard was shining the torch on the keys in his hand and not really concentrating on anything else so Alex took the opportunity to start to sneak up behind him.

Matching his steps to the regular drip of some leaky masonry he managed to get within striking distance of the man before the Spaniard even noticed. Alex quickly winded the man with a swift punch to the abdomen, silencing him, before performing a sharp but simple kick to the head, knocking the man out cold. The most sound he made was when he hit the flood, hard.

The torch had fallen out of the Spaniard's hand and was now lying on the floor, still illuminating the room, and one person, one very naked person in particular.

"Trista!" Alex said before thinking.

"Really?" a strangely familiar English voice came from the doorway. "We've been trying to get that information out of her for two weeks now!" he laughed slightly before closing the door and bolting it top and bottom, not even bothering with the lock considering Alex had a set of keys inside the room with him. "Raven will be pleased! Two spies, and we even have the name of one of them now!" he started to laugh again before turning and walking back up the stairs, his evil laugh audible all the while.

Alex cursed himself but caught sight of Trista again. She was starting to wake. Turning his knife over he got his lock picking kit out and began to pick the lock. If they were going to be 'given over' to this Raven person, he'd at least give her some clothes first.

* * *

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 11:14  
12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W**_

The laugh that had been haunted her dreams woke her. She snapped awake, ready to fight him away, or at least try. She felt that as long as she fought, and didn't give up, she could get through this, no matter what they did to her.

Opening her eyes she saw a blurred image of someone fumbling with the lock to her cell. She couldn't quite see, there was some light shining in her face from next to the person.

"GO AWAY!" she shouted, obviously startling the person somewhat as they dropped what looked like a rather large hunting knife onto the floor.

"It's ok, I'm here to help you." It was a guy, probably around 18 by the sounds of it, he sounded English meaning he was probably working for that man. She laughed, it came out hollow.

"I've heard that one before, don't think they haven't already tried that tack with me." He didn't seem to care what she said as he continued to fiddle with her lock.

"Look, you seem new," she said, trying to assert herself despite the circumstances. "You really don't want to do that, you'd be out cold before you could even touch me!" and she didn't doubt it, he didn't look that strong, and although she might have been weak due to lack of nourishment, and…other things…but there were still few who could go up against her and win.

"You mean like this guy?" the boy nodded down to where the light was, and of course, she could see nothing.

"What are you on about? All I can see is a light!" she herd him give a small 'oh', and he quickly kicked the light out of her face. The limp body of one of the few she was just thinking of was lying on the floor; she thought she could even see a small pool of blood from behind his head.

"Believe me now?" he said, taking a quick glance at her. His face was contorted in concentration at his task, and she suddenly noticed that he wasn't using any keys. He suddenly swore loudly and picked up the knife again, taking out what looked like some pink chewing gum from the grip and shoving it in his mouth. While he chewed he shoved something inside the grip and placed the knife into a slot in his backpack.

"Giving up now are we?" Trista teased, not really knowing what to think, but going with her first assessment of him.

"No, not quite yet." He said taking the gum out of his mouth and shoving it into the lock.

"Oi!" she shouted, not really thinking straight. After a few seconds she realised that if the lock was jammed they wouldn't be able to get in for a while, maybe giving her a rest for a while.

"Cover your eyes." The boy said as he stepped back, covering his face with his hands. Trista didn't bother, she'd rather watch the idiot sticking chewing gum in the lock, for all the good it was doing him. She suddenly wished she had.

The lock blew with quite a quiet but powerful and very bright explosion. Trista felt the shockwave wash over her and before she could recover her composure properly, the boy was at her side.

"I SAID STAY AWAY!" she screamed, attempting to break his nose with the palm of her hand by forcing it back into his face. She was so shocked that he caught her arm she forgot to fight on.

"Look," he said quite fast, but deliberately, "Trista," her eyes became fearful at her own name, had they found out who she was?

"My name is Alex, I'm with the UNITI team, I've come to get you out." Trista discredited this immediately, she had trained with the UNITI team since she was 14, and there was no 'Alex' in the group.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said automatically, that was what she had said to nearly every question they had thrown at her over the past few weeks, though, she didn't really know how long she'd been down there.

"Ok, so you don't trust me right now, that's understandable, but at least put these on…" he took off his backpack and took out a full set of clothes, including bra and panties.

She suddenly remembered that she was completely naked. She hadn't been clothed for about a week now, but thinking back as to why she wasn't clothed was too painful so, in the end she had just accepted it. Something she suddenly realised was that she was cold, very cold, in fact, she was shaking.

"Please…" the boy said, placing a hand on her shoulder, probably to try and comfort her, but it did the opposite to her. Contact, especially hands, on any part of her anatomy made her freeze and suddenly fearful. She lashed out at him without thinking, and he obviously wasn't expecting it since he didn't even have time to flinch as her foot made contact with his abdomen, making him double over in pain. His hand came free, but her mind stayed clouded.

Something in her mind told her that he was only trying to help, but another, a much larger part of it told her to be wary, and that he deserved what he just got. That same part of her brain also told her to fear him more now, a man like that wasn't going to react to being assaulted well.

The boy recovered remarkably quickly, but he wasn't angry as she expected, confusing her even more. He simply picked up the clothes again and came towards her again, although much slower and more warily.

"Please, put them on." Not thinking it wise to get any closer, he threw the pile of clothes at her feet. "I know you don't trust me, but what harm can it do you?"

The question was a good one, if he had wanted to hurt her, she didn't doubt he would have tried by now, and it was true, what harm could clothes be?

Slowly she started to put the clothes on. She was bruised all over, making moving round to put things like a bra or panties on were painfully difficult. It seemed the boy had noticed.

"Do you need any help?" his voice was sincere enough, and the look he wore wasn't that of greed or cruelty like the other men she'd encountered while in the cell. But still, she didn't trust him… no… she didn't trust him…

"No!" she spat at him unintentionally, "and look away you dirty pervert!" he looked about at shocked at the statement as she felt about saying it. He got up and walked away though, of which she was glad.

It took her a good quarter of an hour to get fully dressed. She was suddenly very grateful for the clothes. The hoodie was warm, and she hadn't felt warm since she made a run for it, and that was like a distance memory. She looked up to find what the boy was doing, probably something to shatter the semi-trust she felt growing inside of her.

"What are you doing?" she was glad to hear that it was her normal voice, sounding a bit weak, but at least she wasn't shouting at him anymore.

"Trying to work out how to get out of here…" he said. He was straining to look at something through the wrought iron grating that stretched over the window in the door. He had the knife in one of his hands; she could see a range of things stuffed into the grip section.

"Why?" somehow it didn't seem to make sense that someone sent in to interrogate her would be locked in… or did it?

"Because that British twat locked the door using the bolts on the door rather than the lock." Apparently annoyed, he kicked the door, hard. Dust fell from around the doorframe, but it wasn't going to budge. He walked back into the cell and, after doing the main compartment of his bag back up, put it back on.

As he was busying himself with securing the pack, Trista thought of something. Once or twice, the Spaniard who'd caught her had threatened her with a handgun. She moved over to the body, shocked to find it still breathing, but she also found what she was looking for. A silenced HecklerKoch USP .45 Tactical, a serious piece of kit!

"Wow! What are you doing!" the boy obviously didn't like having a gun pointed at him. Strangely, he took off his pack and held it out in front of him as if it were some bullet-proof shield.

"I want to know who you are and why you're here." She said calmly. Now she would finally get some answers!

"Ok, my name is Alex Rider. I've been training with UNITI for the past two weeks specifically for this rescue mission." She could tell he was trying to search her eyes for any sign that she believed him, but right now she was nowhere near believing him.

"Alex Rider died four years ago." She said bluntly. At least, that was one of the rumours. Others included him being mentally scared and in various psychiatric wards, or so fed up with MI6 that he quit, never to return. The point was, there was no way that Alex Rider would come back to spy work. There was just no need for him since UNITI was now in operation.

"No, I didn't. I was shot at, yes. I was hit, yes. But I didn't die… as you can see." Trista saw his free hand unconsciously touch his chest.

"Prove it," she said, "show me the scar." The boy looked at her as if she were mad.

"Look, in about," he glanced at his watch, "5 minutes we're both going to be 'collected' by a guy named Raven. I don't know who he is, but I overheard the British guy talking about it. We don't have time for this!" At this point she didn't really care about that. Somehow finding the identity of this person was more important.

"Well, if you just show me the scar then we can get on with escaping." She said this with as much conviction as she could, but truth be told, she was starting to find the gun heavy to handle. If he didn't comply, she doubted her arms would be able to hold up the gun for the rest of the 5 minutes.

The boy groaned with frustration. Slowly and deliberately he put his pack back on so he had both hands free. Then he lifted his t-shirt to reveal the scar. A long line of scar tissue ran down the centre of his chest where Trista guessed the operation to save his life had opened him up. Just visible was a small scar on his left peck, the entry wound?

"Do you believe me now?" he said and she nodded slowly. "Good, now, put the weapon down…"

"Yes, I must agree with Agent Rider on that one." An unfamiliar voice said from the doorway. Trista and Alex turned to see two weapons pointed through the grating of the door. Trista looked to Alex, who nodded and she slowly put the gun on the cold stone floor.

Trista suddenly felt foolish. Alex had just been trying to coordinate her escape; instead she had managed to hold him up just long enough to get them both captured.

Well, at least she believed him now…

_**Reviewers Corner:**_

**_liveandletlive: _**hmm… I'm not sure if that's a covert way of saying that chapter wasn't too good or not… I don't mind you telling me if you think it is…

**_Magic Noden: _**Glad you like the story! Its ok, you don't have to advertise my fic, but I'll help you with your fic if you want.

**_Tondo-the-half-elf: _**yeh, I think you've got a point. Those guys were way too cheerful for their own good! Then again, they're professional spies; they don't see what they do as anything strange or stressful, its normal to them, so they're just trying to have fun at the same time… (or that's my excuse neway lol) and look! I'm on time! Amazing!

**_PentagonMerlin:_** It wasn't me that corrected the Spanish, (see the reviewer below for that), so thanx to her again. As for the errors, I've had a look through, and yeh, there were a few things there, thanx for pointing that out.

**_Honey Nut Loop: _**yeh, that bit at the start was me just trying to be descriptive… maybe I should have picked a more relevant topic to be descriptive about lol. Ahh well, least I know not to do it now! Lol (don't worry, I'm not going to kill you! In fact you've preformed two of the things I need from reviewers. Helping me correct errors, and telling me when something doesn't work.) So thank you!

_Well, that's it till next week! Somehow I've got to work out how these two escape… maybe I shoulda thought slightly further ahead…maybe…_

_Remember to review and tell me what's good/bad etc, especially about switching perspectives._

_Danke!_


	11. NOTE: To continue, or not to continue

Hi guys. Long time no see…

Yeh, about that. I'm REALLY sorry about stopping this without even telling you. I just had other things going on, and distracted would be an understatement. Hovever, the story I'm sticking to is that I stopped writing coz of revision, amongst other commitments. Now that exams are over (as well as distractions), and I've got time to write again, I was thinking about starting this Fic back up.

Now, I realise that people don't like long breaks because they forget what's come before in the story. I've gotta say that I'm not particularly fond of it either, but that's why I'm writing this.

I was wondering if you guys, the ones bothering to read this, would rather I abandon this and start a new Rider Fic, or… do a quick recap chapter for this Fic, and continue where we left off. I do have some ideas where I'd like to take this Fic, but they could easily be adapted into a totally new story, coz this one's hardly gotten started yet.

For those of you that are reading this story for the first time, I'd like your opinions too. I realise that you wont have experienced the long wait some others that (I hope) will read this, but I do owe it to those guys to allow them to express their opinions.

The Review button is below, or, if you do want to bitch at me, my email is in my profile.

Thank you for your time.

Chris, aka Fensta

**_Extra note: I have now gone back over all the previous chapters, correcting mistakes like grammer and tences. If you feel like reading the whole thing again, I can now promise it won't be as painfull reading. Hell, i can't believe you even bothered with finishing the first chapter with all the tence problems. It was horrible! Anyways, yes, they're all re-edited, and therefore the reading should be smoother (and all in past tence). Somehow I feel cleaner now... curious..._**


	12. Explosive Situations

Ok ok, I know. Late doesn't even start to describe the tardiness of this chapter. In fact, if it weren't for _"DreamGirl101"_ who decided to kick me up the arse, this might not have seen the light of day at all. Ironically it was her first review for me. I'm sorry it took months of silence to get you to speak up.

Anyways! It was a unanimous decision to continue with this Fic, so I went right ahead the same afternoon and wrote this for you. Strangely, most the reviews all seemed to come in the few hours after I posted the A/N. I may later delete that chapter, considering its not actually a chapter...hmm...

For those of you that have just reread the entire work, I hope you took notice of the fact that I went through the entire thing, editing and changing a few things so they made more sense (including the problem with switching tenses half way through sentences). I will be more vigilant to that problem from here on in.

However, you're not here to read this kind of rambling, but the one below. It's only a small chapter in comparison to the length I want to be able to post, but it gets the story right where I want it. It's hard to restart a story properly when the main character is underground…

Anyways, yes, read on! And don't forget to review! Please…

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_**Wednesday, 8th December, 11:30  
12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W**_

Alex felt like he could have groaned out loud when he heard the voice from behind him… In contrast, the look on Trista's face would have been comical in different circumstances, but as it was…

Alex nodded to Trista and she slowly put the gun on the floor, swaying on her feet slightly as she came back up to a standing position. Apparently the gun wasn't a weapon that agreed with being held out in front of you for any period of time. Especially by someone as tired and malnourished as Trista.

"Good good." Said this new person, "and Mr Rider, the pack?" Alex slowly put the backpack on the floor in front of him before turning to face the door. The man gave an evil smile before speaking again.

"Right! Well, I s'pose that now that I know your names, its only fair that I introduce myself." He said, withdrawing the two handguns from the grate and signalling to a person beside him. The two teenagers heard the bolts being slid open, and the next moment the man walked through, closely followed by the Englishman.

"I am Raven…" he splayed his arms as if the name carried as much weight as some great war hero, Alex heard Trista gasp softly at the name, he'd obviously been a topic of conversation during her stay. "And now you belong to me." He said with a smirk.

Alex studied the man. He was wearing a long white trench coat, a pair of pistols quite clearly showing from under their folds where they were strapped to his body. Underneath he wore blue jeans and a black muscle shirt, apparently he didn't feel the Caribbean heat even with all these clothes on. His hair was long, black, greasy, and tied back into a ponytail that was tucked inside his trench coat. His face seemed youthful, except for his disgustingly yellow teeth; he even had a silver tooth where his left incisor should have been.

"I am, however, here for a reason, so Mr Thomas, if you would…" the Englishman walked in, a smirk plastered all over his own face. He quickly picked up Alex's backpack and the Spaniard's gun, before walking over to his unconscious manservant.

"Leave him." Raven said, "If he got himself knocked out by this boy, I daresay he deserves a night or two down here." The Englishman didn't seem quite so pleased about this, but he left the body, and instead pointed the gun at Alex.

"Now, I have a car waiting outside, and I would be much obliged if you two would accompany me on a little drive." Raven said, stepping out of the way of the door, "I daresay Alex knows where the front door is…"

Alex looked to Trista who looked right back at him with an apologetic grimace. He nodded and she started to walk, only to stumble a couple of feet later. Taking pity, Alex took her arm and wrapped it over his neck, helping her walk. As they were walking up the dark stone stairs, slowly, Alex whispered to her.

"Go as slowly as you can without making it look to obvious, we need to give the guys time to organise something." She nodded, slowing ever so slightly. Alex checked behind them, making sure Raven and 'Mr Thomas' weren't too close.

"There's something I need you to do," Alex whispered after he turned back to look where he was going, "on the arm that's holding yours across my neck there's a watch," he felt her fingers find the carbon fibre watch. "I need you to press the two outside buttons in, and hold them there for at least three seconds." Her arm muscles tensed against his neck slightly and she whispered back.

"What's this doing?" Alex shot her a small half smile.

"Its an emergency beacon. The other UNITI members on the island know we're in trouble now."

300 meters away, in a small lay-by, Diego sat behind the wheel of the white, moped engine fused with a tin can, rent-a-van, when his palmtop suddenly beeped into life. Taking a quick look, he swore in Spanish, as Dan's, Lisa's and Conner's voices all tried to speak over the radio.

* * *

_**Wednesday, 8th December, 11:45  
12"05'57 N - 68"56'10 W**_

Alex tired not to smile too much as Trista and him sat in the back of a very plush Rolls Royce. Trista had managed to take a respectable 15 minutes to climb the short series of stairs, stumbling and crying out in all the right places. And as far as he could see, the two men had been too caught up in their joy to notice.

Their joy had been the fact that the palmtop in Alex's bag had suddenly beeped to life, and they had been quite happy to spend the time playing around with it. The Englishman had quite unfortunately pressed too many buttons, so the map had disappeared, and instead they got a multitude of false reports and stats. It was a built in defence mechanism that Smithers hadn't told Alex about. However, during one of her many 'rests' on the stairs, Trista had been happy to explain it all to Alex. Hence the very large smile trying to make its way onto his lips.

"Well, now you're in trouble Agent Rider!" the Englishman said as he got into the back with the two captives. Alex's smile was immediately replaced with a fake grimace. Raven got into the passenger seat of the car, apparently the driver, a local man, had been waiting in the car all this time.

Raven's head spun round to look into the back, and he smiled quite happily, giving Alex, who was in-between Trista and the Englishman, a face full of his rotting teeth. Unfortunately, the bad breath that often accompanied rotting teeth seemed to manifest at the same time as the smile, making Alex's eyes want to water.

"There's enough information in here to earn me a fortune! I know some people who would be very interested in this!" he said, waving the palmtop about in his hand. He passed the Englishman back the backpack with orders to 'find anything else of interest' before instructing the driver to 'get going' in Dutch.

"Since this may well be your last few hours alive, I thought we'd take a little drive through the capital." Raven turned back to face the captives, Alex's nose, once again, wished he hadn't.

"It's quite a beautiful place if you know where to look!" he glanced towards the window before gesturing at the view of the harbour, and the floating market. "Just look at the colour and life of the local people, going about their daily business despite the fact that every other person in the crowd is a blood sucking westerner."

He turned back to the front, much to the joy of Alex, and started to monologue on about how the western world was corrupting the lives of countless millions, especially in places of beauty like the Caribbean and Africa.

Getting bored of the lecture, Alex started to observe the Englishman next to him. He'd apparently finished searching the inside of the bag, considering it now held next to nothing. Instead he was concentrating on the hunting knife.

"Not a bad bit of kit…" he muttered, apparently as interested in what his boss had to say as the rest of them. He slid his fingers over the blade, accidentally cutting his thumb on the point as the car went over a pothole in the road.

Swearing under his breath, he absentmindedly sucked the thumb as he turned the knife over to find the 'secret compartment' half open, and therefore not that secret.

"What's this…" he slid the cover off completely to reveal the multitude of gadgets, but he seemed to lock onto the gum pretty quickly. Laughing, he took out two pieces, sticking one in his own mouth, offering the second to Alex. When Alex responded with a quizzical look he smiled.

"Well, if we're about to kill you, I can't see why not… it's not like you can use it as a weapon…" Alex gave him a weak smile before taking the gum and placing it in his mouth. Beside him, Trista gave him wide eyes before realising what she was doing and hastily turned to look out the window again.

Putting the cover back on the compartment of the knife, the Englishman slid into a free holster on his leg, seemingly he'd misplaced his old one. He then turned back to the pack, checking it over once before deciding there was nothing else hidden within. Of course, he'd missed the flash-bang grenades altogether, and as he threw the bag at Alex feet, one of the grenades fell out its holster, and rolled between the Englishman's feet. Trista noticed, and nudged Alex, who discreetly nodded back. The Englishman, now staring at Alex's arm where Smithers' watch was resting, was apparently ignorant to the fact he had a high-powered explosive device between his feet.

"I must say, I quite like your watch young man!" He said, picking Alex's arm up to look at the timepiece more closely. "Quite a bit of engineering! Oh, and British made!" he looked to Alex's face with a greedy smile. "Well, since you're not long for this world, I s'pose you'll have no objections to giving me this." he said smoothly, his powerful hand squeezing Alex's arm as if to say, 'take it off, or I'll rip your hand off to get it'. As much as Alex valued the watch, which Smithers had given him after the Scorpia 'incident', he valued his hand more, and quickly moved to take the watch off. A few minutes later, the Englishman had it strapped to his own wrist, smiling smugly to himself.

The car pulled onto a street next to the fort Alex had started his walk that day, passing all the brightly coloured stalls and people just as the rain that the clouds had promised earlier, came down.

Stall fronts suddenly came down, the local people running all over the place in an effort to get out the rain, which to Alex's eyes, was nothing more than drizzle. There were those trying to get back into the fort arches, others running across the street in an effort to get into the shops on the other side, and in effect stopping the traffic. The tourists, not properly understanding what all the panic was about, were looking to each other for guidance on what to do next, and slowly started to make their way into shops and cafés. Few people noticed a few kids running around in the rain, talking into the base of their wrist as they held something into their ears. Even fewer noticed the van that was parked with its side door open a few meters down the road, ready to speed off in the opposite direction as the Rolls Royce.

Alex and Trista were some of the only people who noticed the UNITI team moving in the opposite direction as most the crowd. They shared this information with each other by way of a furtive glance. They didn't have to wait long for everyone else in the car to notice the kids.

Suddenly, four thumps were heard as two kids slapped chewing gum on the windows. Raven even stopped his monologue to shout obscenities at the 'obviously western' children. Alex instinctively covered Trista's body with his own just as all four side windows blew inwards, covering the driver and passengers with a shower of small safety glass squares.

In this half bent position, Alex could just reach the backpack, and quickly grabbed it, taking out a second grenade from the side pouch, pressing the button immediately.

"Catch!" he shouted into the front, dropping the disk on Raven's lap. Not thinking, Raven immediately picked up the disk just before its timer ran out.

Apparently, Trista knew exactly what effect the grenade would have, and was already in a foetal position, her fingers in her ears and her eyes closed tight when Alex went to cover her once again, protecting his eyes and ears in much the same way.

The bang that was emitted was enough to hurt Alex's ears, even through his palms, the flash of light seen quite clearly even though his head was turned in the opposite direction. He felt the shockwave pass through his body, sensing, rather than hearing, the front and back windows blow out.

He hardly knew what happened next in his half dazed state, but later he was told that Dan had come along and dragged Trista out the car, leaving Diego and Lisa the task of hauling Alex out the car. Mya had apparently opened the door on the opposite side of the car, and had to jump back as the chewing gum in the stunned Englishman's mouth had fallen to the roadside, leaving a nice burn mark on the tarmac a couple of seconds later. She had then, however, grabbed the backpack, and seeing the fallen grenade at the man's feet, spat some of her own gum down next to it.

Alex thought he heard another series of loud bangs as he was helped away, but before he could clear his head to figure out what it had been, he was being shoved into the back of a strangely familiar van. After a few seconds, a laughing little girl jumped into the seat next to his, and he spotted Lisa closing the van's sliding door. Soon after he felt the car lurch forward with a screech just as sirens could be heard in the background. Soon the noise died away to be replaced by heavier rain on the windows, and his vision cleared enough to see Mya beaming at him, diving at him to give him an exceptionally large hug.

"You did it!"

* * *

_**Reviewer's Corner:**_

First thing, remember that this chapter is only short compared to the chapters I want to put out, and for those of you that like more action in their Fics, there should be more for you to feast your eyes over soon, both in this Fic, and in a new FF8 Fic I'm trying to write. It's all planned out; I just need to sit down to _actually_ write it. My HP Fic probably won't go any further however, what with HBP coming out in…days.

Secondly, since there are so many reviews to comment on, I'm going to duck out of having to do them by saying thank you to everyone who's reviewed the last chapter, and also the people who responded to my A/N. You are the reason I write these things, other than the fact that I seem to have my own morbid curiosity as to what happens next.

I do have to comment on one review though... deville... I'm not German, and I can't speak German, however if you want to practice your German in reviews you're more than welcome lol. My pen name sounds like the german word for window (fenster) by coincidence. Incidentally, it wasn't me who picked the name, it's something I was called as a nickname at college by friends... I dont know how they came up with it either, it just seemd to fit...

The next chapter should be up sometime next week, I'm going away for the weekend so I won't have time to write then, but I promise to update soon. And this time, soon doesn't mean next month sometime. Promise! Oh, and I'll be responding to each review in the normal way then as well. So go make my life harder by giving me a review to reply to! Go on! It's your only way to get back at me…


	13. Post Mission Choices

_Ok, so this chapter is sort. And yes, I know its been a while since I updated, but I was on holiday, so don't kill me. However, this isn't all I wrote on holiday, other than two other stories, this is only about a quarter of what I've written for this Fic. However, where it ends is a natural stopping point. And I like to get u guys thinking and second guessing me before I tell you what happens, so I'll give you a few days to contemplate before I continue on._

_Reviews are always welcome!

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_

Commodore Jonathan G. Roberts had never really enjoyed the sun. He had pale skin that easily burnt, and to be honest, he didn't like his freckles either. His Red hair, his other legacy from being a Northern Irish national, gave him the nickname of 'Commodore Carrot', exactly the person you wouldn't expect to find commanding a British Destroyer class vessel in the south Caribbean Sea. However, here he was, sunburnt nose and all.

The HMS Southampton, one of the Royal Navy's most modern anti-air Destroyers, was docked well inside the island port of Willemstad. The capital of Curacao, the largest of the Netherlands Antilles, and protected by NATO treaty. Hence the rather impressive warship within its harbour.

While there, Commodore Roberts was expected to play host to the local NATO and American national consulates for a night, along with other distinguished guests, showing them around the ship and providing them with a rather lavish feast. This year it was to be a nice Sunday lunch, roast chicken and all.

And that's exactly what he'd been doing for the past few hours, dining with and laughing at the rather poor jokes of Sir Frederick Williams, the British consulate on the island. The knight, who hadn't seemed to notice the Commodore's Red hair as he'd made his last couple of 'Carrot top' jokes, had been rather fat, Roberts remembered as he walked slowly back to his cabin. The Commodore smiled to himself at the memory of the knight's wife giving the man a roasting about his jokes as they walked back to their car a few minutes ago.

As the Commodore entered his cabin, it took him the time to carefully hang up his Cap and Dinner Jacket to realise the fact that he was not alone. He spun on the spot to find a stern looking woman with greying hair sitting at his desk. She had on a modest black summer dress and matching black handbag that matched her eyes perfectly. He recognised her as one of the 'Dignitaries' that had just attended the meal, and had been under the distinct impression he'd seen her drive off a few minutes ago with the rest of the guests.

"M-Mrs Jones! These are private quarters!" he didn't quite mean it to come out as harsh as that, but then again, she had seemingly just broken into his only private space aboard his own ship.

"Be that as it may Commodore, but I'm afraid I have some news that directly concerns your ship and crew." She stood up and took a crumpled folder out of her handbag. "I believe you've already signed the Official Secrets Act…" she looked up at him expectantly and he nodded automatically.

Commodore Roberts racked his brains to who this woman was that seemed to conduct herself as if she had every right to be sitting in a Commodore's Quarters as if they were her own. Ahh, that was it, she was the secretary of the American consulate. The consulate himself had been ill that afternoon, and she had agreed to go along in his place, but that was all he really knew about her. Of course he'd talked to her briefly at the pre-lunch pleasantries, but hadn't found out anything more than that she was widowed, and that she'd moved to the island only a few months ago to retire before finding the job as secretary to keep herself from getting too bored.

"Commodore, a few hours ago, during the lunch, a number of my agents boarded your ship with my permission. They had a man down injured, and we needed to use you medical facilities."

"J-Just a sec," Roberts said, "_Your_ agents? And _your _permission! I'm afraid you have no authority on board this ship. This is British government property, and last time I checked, I was the Commodore, not you!" Mrs Jones just smiled at him as if he were a small child.

"Yes, you are the Commodore of this ship." She handed him the dossier before sitting in his chair once more, "But _I_ however, am the deputy head of MI6, and that means I have every authority on this ship specifically _because _it's British Government property." She rummaged around her handbag and puled out a pack of tic-tacs, taking one and offering the pack to the Commodore as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather. Roberts declined, and so Mrs Jones popped the container back into the bag, pulling out a very wallet-like leather book. She flipped it open and laid it out on the desk so the Commodore could see her Identification.

"You realise I'm only telling you all this out of courtesy and practicality, my agents could quite easily keep a low profile, and you'd never need know. But seeing as one of them may be staying quite a while, it works best for all of us if we keep things open and honest."

'_Just not too honest I suspect!' _Commodore Roberts thought to himself as he inspected the woman's ID. She was in fact, Mrs Jones (no initials), Dept. Head of MI6, and the head of quite a few branches of the secret service, probably more than were listed there.

"So, can you tell me anything about your agents? Why they need to use my ship rather than the local hospital perhaps?" Roberts said, realising that he wasn't going to be allowed to sit in his chair for a while, so he went and sat on his bed instead. Mrs. Jones spun the chair around to face the Commodore.

"Commodore Roberts. No active field agents should use foreign government hospitals if at all possible. It would make it too easy for those governments, and independent organisations, to gather Intel about our agents." She said matter-of-factly. "Not to mention the fact that the local authorities would want a full explanation of how the injuries appeared. Something we'd rather they didn't know."

"Ok, so what are these injuries?" Roberts was starting to get annoyed at the way this Mrs. Jones was avoiding telling him anything definite.

"Severe bruising, malnutrition, dehydration, and one hell of a headache if you ask her." She smiled for a second, "In fact, we have two agents with severe headaches."

"And I s'pose you're not going to tell me how the injuries appeared either…" Roberts said.

"You catch on quickly Commodore." Mrs. Jones smiled, "But if you want information about the agent with the severe injuries, the dossier in you hand might help you."

Roberts looked to his hand, and suddenly realised that he'd forgotten all about the dossier he'd been given. Opening it he scanned the first couple of pages.

"B-But…" he looked up at Mrs. Jones with an astonished look, "this is a teenage girl! You can't possibly be serious!"

"Deadly serious Commodore. You might also note that she is an American citizen, and working for a MI6 program called UNITI." The Commodore looked down at the pages again and nodded his head after a few minutes. "You now know more information about the program than either the Prime Minister or the President. For security reasons I hope you understand that I have to get you to sign the document on the back page that is an addition to the Official Secrets Act." She stood up and offered the Commodore his seat. "Please do that now."

Bemused, the Commodore flicked right to the back of the dossier to find the document. It seemed to be totally made up of small-print, three double sided A4 pages of it. "What does it say?"

"In short, its not much more than getting you to re-agree to the Official Secrets Act. But it does include a few more clauses, like even when asked by superior officers about UNITI, even me, you will deny all knowledge." She moved to the other side of his desk and looked him in the eye. "After you sign the document, that dossier will be the only information about UNITI that you ever get, and I suggest you read it quickly, because if my science division is to be believed, that dossier will incinerate itself at 0600 tomorrow morning." Roberts looked at her as if she were mad. "He's a Mission Impossible fan…" she said simply.

Three hours later, Commodore Roberts slapped the dossier down on his desk after finishing reading it. The uncooperative Mrs. Jones had left with the signed document ages ago, now he wished she hadn't. The dossier was very informative, or it was written in a way that made you feel like you were being told everything, without actually telling you anything of importance. He'd learnt that the entire team on Curacao were under 20 years of age, although the dossier didn't give any exact details. It seemed that MI6 had thought up a cover story for him too. The agents were actually kids from the island, and the injured child was the American consulate's daughter. Somehow she'd broken her foot while onboard, hence the trip to the sickbay.

If anything, the dossier had created questions rather than answered any, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. Other than meet the kids themselves… Commodore Roberts suddenly threw down the dossier and picked up his Cap before disappearing out the door.

"Look lively…" a passing sailor said to his colleague as the Commodore flew towards them in the corridor outside his office, "Flying carrot at 12 o'clock…"

* * *

The sickbay was quite large enough, in fact it was so extensive that Trista had her own room, and the rest of the UNITI team, bar Conner, was sitting in a double-bedded room. Alex, still shaky, had taken one of the beds, and the others were sitting to one side on the seats provided. Conner had decided he was hungry about twenty minutes ago, and had shot off. His notoriously large stomach seemingly taking a while to fill up. 

Alex groaned as Mya's laughter rang through the room. His splitting headache from earlier still hadn't gone away, and with her high-pitched giggling, it was no wonder. The fact that Lisa, Dan and Diego were having an argument at the same time probably didn't help either.

"Honestly!" Dan said, "If I ever get into another car with you, it will be the day I die, quite literally!"

"Hey!" Diego protested, "If you could do better through afternoon traffic in a strange vehicle, in a city you don't know, maybe you should drive next time!"

"To be honest Dan," Lisa said, "You're driving does leave much to be expected…" Mya giggled in the background, and Alex moaned again. Lisa had been stirring things up like this for ages, had it not been for her, the argument would have fizzled out about an hour ago.

"Who's side are you on?" Dan said, taken aback. "And your driving isn't much better!" Lisa smiled.

"True, but its not me accusing poor Diego here of bad driving." As Mya giggled again, Alex gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

"_Please! Just shut up!"_ he thought desperately, and, miraculously, they did. In shock, Alex opened his eyes again and almost gave another groan of annoyance.

"Hello Mrs. Jones…" he said through his gritted teeth. Right now he was trying to rest, and seeing her always meant he would be on a flight to some obscure part of the world within the next hour or so.

"Alex! How's your headache?" she said in a motherly sort of way that didn't suit her at all. Alex noticed that the rest of the team were astonished at Mrs. Jones's appearance, he couldn't imagine many of them had met their commander in chief.

"Splitting…thank you." He replied, although the look of Dan with his mouth hanging open in astonishment was enough to almost put a smile on his face. Mrs. Jones seemed to spot the boy as well.

"Agent Mason… catching flies are we?" Dan's mouth immediately closed.

"Why are you here Mrs Jones?" Alex said bluntly. "We already have orders to travel back to Switzerland tomorrow." Mrs. Jones sighed and looked back to Alex.

"Now-now Alex, is there something wrong with a personal congratulations for a job well done?" Alex's arched eyebrow gave her his answer. It wasn't necessarily wrong, but in Alex's experience, they got the agents to come to them, not the other way around. Then again, that had been Blunt's way of doing things, perhaps Mrs. Jones was trying to do things her own way.

"I s'pose I can't blame you for Blunt's idea of a congratulation." He said, trying not to smile as Dan's mouth fell open at the mention of personal congratulations from Alan Blunt, the head of MI6. It must have shown on his face though, because Mrs. Jones smiled back at him, her own eyes flicking to Dan's open mouth.

"Agent Brown, please help Mr Mason remember how to close his mouth." She said, and Lisa was only too glad to slap Dan's mouth closed with the back of her hand. "I'm just here to say congratulations on a very good piece of fieldwork. You worked as a team, and used your training and intuition to good effect. I'm very proud of you all." Lisa slapped at Dan's jaw once again, and Mrs. Jones turned to Alex.

"And I have to say a special congratulations and thank you to you Alex. Not only did you manage to rescue our agent, but the bug in the watch that you placed on the Englishman has allowed us to track him into an underground hideout in the outback. Dutch Special Forces had been watching the site for just over a week now, and had been waiting for an excuse to raid it. Since he went in, along with 'Raven', who is a wanted criminal, they got their excuse." She walked over to a free bed and sat.

"Inside the building, they found over twenty two million dollars worth of Cocaine and other class A drugs. Unfortunately, the men that took Trista hostage managed to escape in the chaos, but the bug will still be active for another few hours. We're hoping to let them take us to a few more hideouts before it runs out of battery."

"So that's it then," Alex said, "no gangster mobs going to track me down, I'm not going to have to go into hiding this time?" It was more than a statement than a question in reality.

"Yes Alex, once we pick up our three men there will be no link back to you what so ever. The fact that 'Alex Rider' is still officially certified as dead should make sure of that, even within UNITI program, so there's nothing to worry about there." Mya looked up to Alex with that 'vulnerable little girl' look and Alex just had to turn to look at her.

"You're leaving?" she said simply, very quietly and weakly, but simply. How did she manage to go so good at playing people's emotions?

Alex paused. He'd been thinking about this quite a lot. He could either go back to his 'new life', living as Daniel Hunter, along with Maddie and all his new friends, always looking over his shoulder for MI6, or, he could go become a spy, like his father and uncle…

"Alex?" this was Mrs Jones. She must have expected Alex to make the snap decision to return home.

"Um… c-can I talk to you?" he said to the woman, flicking a glance to the others in the small room that were all staring at him, Dan's mouth was open again. "Outside?"

"Yes of course," she turned to the others as he slid off the bed, "Please excuse us…"

* * *

The two veterans walked out the door to the cabin and Mrs. Jones steered them into one that looked almost identical across the narrow hallway. Alex sat on the bed once again, while Mrs. Jones preferred to remain standing. 

"I don't know what to do…" Alex confessed. "For the first time, I felt like I was doing the right thing, like I was being who I was meant to be…" he sighed and looked down at his feet. "But I miss my friends already… when I left, I was on my way to meet Maddie, but I never got there and…" he trailed off.

"She's very worried about you." Mrs, Jones said, catching Alex totally off guard. "She almost went to the police to report you missing, but luckily Jack Starbright, your housekeeper, found her and said you were off on a once in a lifetime Rugby trial. She made up some story about you being scouted at that last match of yours, which was easy enough to authenticate with our ties, so that's your official cover story if you do go back."

"That over a week ago now!" Alex said, "she's smarter than to fall for a story about me being at a training camp for this long! Plus, I would have called her that first night to apologise for missing our meeting."

"That's something we can't fake, not that we're not experimenting with technologies to do so…" she said going off on a tangent before catching herself. "We could just tell her." She said. Alex's head shot up at this.

"T-Tell her!" he thought about it for a minute, if they told her, then she could possibly still be part of his life, even if he decided to carry on with UNITI…

"If you got found out, she could be used against you," Mrs. Jones said, "Like Sabina was…"

Alex physically flinched. He hadn't heard her voice spoken for years, and he only thought about her when he was at his lowest. He couldn't deny that the one thing that had been hardest to leave all those years ago hadn't been his long time school friends, nor the house he'd lived in most his life. It was the girl he hardly knew, the girl that he'd saved from almost curtain death. The girl that had stolen his heart.

"We've been keeping an eye on her as well." Mrs. Jones said, stirring Alex from his thoughts. "At one time we were considering bringing her into the UNITI program, but she still has parents, and a proper life. We didn't think it would be fair."

"You were going to initiate her into UNITI?" Alex said, surprised. Mrs. Jones smiled.

"It seems you inspired Miss Pleasure into training. After you disappeared, she started to train in martial arts and endurance. It seemed she wanted to carry on your work, she even applied to the US Army and Marines. The marines didn't even bother looking into the English 15 year old female applicant, but the Army advised her to join an Army cadet program, which she did. There she became skilled in leadership and teamwork, as well as receiving some weapons training." Mrs. Jones crossed the room and sat on the bed next to Alex.

"She was almost perfect for the UNITI program. Smart, multi-lingual, athletic, skilled in martial arts and leadership. Plus, anything she wasn't too good at, we could train her in it." She sighed. "But, just before we were about to select the members, someone put forward an idea that the UNITI members should only come from deprived areas, street urchins, orphanages, etc. It was a good idea, the trainees would be much harder to track down for the other side, and anyone who wanted to use hostages like they did with you, wouldn't have anyone to use as a hostage. And so, all the kids in UNITI come from bad backgrounds. Picked up off the street, from jails and juvenile halls across the globe. People with little or no ties. It was perfect."

She smiled again before giving a small chuckle. "The ironic thing about it is, that the guy who put forward the idea was also the one who eventually got the program scrapped. But, because of his idea, we're able to keep the program running without even our own government, or him, knowing." Even Alex managed a smile.

"As I see it Alex," she said slowly, "you have three choices." She stood up and started to pace the room, seemingly thinking up these choices then and there. "One; you go back to Bristol, finish school, take your exams and go to University, leaving the world of MI6 behind forever." Alex felt like laughing, MI6 would never leave him alone, he knew that for certain.

"Two; you go back and tell Maddie all about you're other life, continue with school and get your results. Then you can either go to University or come back to MI6, whatever you decide. However, during your time at school you'll be on constant standby for us, in case we need you again. And you'll have to watch out for people getting suspicious. Living a double life isn't easy, and many people better than yourself have failed at it."

"Three; you join the UNITI team, forgoing you're life at Bristol, and forgetting all about Daniel Hunter. We can let you go back for a week or so and be involved in yet another spectacular car crash and everyone will think your dead, including Maddie."

Alex sat stock still for a long time, just thinking. The second option was most attractive in many respects. He would be able to finally tell Maddie everything, and he'd also be able to continue with UNITI if and when they needed him. But then again, it left both him and the people he cared for open in much the same way as when he was 14.

The both the first and third options had their appeal too however. With the first, he could just get back to living, be a normal teenager and be away from the stress of MI6, but he knew now that being a spy was in his blood, it wasn't something you could just give up like that. The third option meant he'd give up living a normal life effectively, but at least this time he could live within the UNITI community, and over the past week he'd made some good friends… It also had the advantage of allowing him to say goodbye to Maddie. Ok, so he couldn't actually 'say' goodbye; she had to believe he was dead, but at least he could see her again and say a few things that he really wanted to say. Something he hadn't been able to do with Sabina.

"Tell you what." Mrs. Jones said from her position by the door, I'll give you a few days to think about it. You can call Maddie this evening, it'll be midday for her then, and you can tell her how great rugby camp is, and make your apologies for not calling." Alex smiled at the prospect of being able to talk to his best friend. "Then why don't you and the guys take the rest of the week off," she smiled and her eyes twinkled a bit, "you are on a Caribbean Island after all…" and with that she opened the door and left the room.

"Ahh! Commodore! Fancy seeing you here…" he heard her say, "The kids are right in here…" Alex decided to stay in his own room for the minute. I mean, there was no point in distracting the Commodore from his prey…

* * *

It was three days later and Alex was lying on a deserted beach with the rest of the UNITI team to one side of him. There were a number of steel barbecues lying on the sand a few feet away, being tended to by an overexcited Conner and Mya. The plan was to have a midnight feast on the beach, for which the two had quickly volunteered to do the cooking for. On asking around, Alex had found out that Mya was a great cook, Conner, extremely bad, but Mya had offered to help him learn properly. Even still, Alex quickly earmarked the BBQs that Mya was cooking on to take food from. He liked Conner sure enough, but he really didn't want salmonella. 

Alex sat up and watched as the sun on the horizon slowly sinking below the waves. As he observed he smiled, thinking about how much he'd enjoyed these past few days. Being a teenager again. As the last green blip of the sun as it refracted light back up through the seawater showed itself, a cheer went up from the UNITI team. There was no particular reason for it, other than their exceptionally high spirits this evening.

Trista had finally been allowed out the ship's Sickbay, and had joined them on the beach for the feast. She wouldn't be able to travel home for another week or so, her body just wasn't up for it, they'd practically had to carry her to the beach this evening, not that anyone was complaining. Dan, for once, actually seemed happy, instead of his usual grumpy and bossy nature, and, if possible, Mya became even more hyperactive. So much so that she'd invented a new game called 'Sailor Slapping'. In a nutshell, the objective of the game was to slap as many Sailors' bums in an hour as you could without being caught. Her record so far was 25, although Diego protested that on number 14, the Commodore hadn't believed Mya's lie that it was Lisa and not her that had done it, so the record shouldn't stand. Alex couldn't see the problem, because the Commodore had thought it was Diego, and therefore not Mya that time, despite the disbelieved lie.

Alex looked over to Diego as he made sandcastles with Lisa down near the waterline. He smiled again at the sight. He had to keep reminding himself that they never really had a childhood, so these 'childish' acts that they kept coming out with, like making a whole city of sandcastles with shells for windows and portcullises, along with deep moats, was probably perfectly natural despite their combined age of 33.

Looking further up the beach to the towels lain next to his, he could see Dan and Trista lying together. They solved the small riddle he'd been trying to figure out for the week of training, up to Lisa's overly touchy-feely approach to sneaking around back in the city. There were relationships within the UNITI program. Apparently, according to Lisa the gossip queen, they had been together for almost a year now, and although they'd tried to hide it from the officers at first, they'd found out anyway. They were separated for about a week, before the officers suddenly let the two see each other again. According to Lisa, there had been no given reason for it, and to be honest, the two weren't looking for one, they were just happy to be allowed to be together.

Alex however, knew exactly why they'd been allowed back together. His talk with Mrs. Jones the other day had definitely changed his opinion of her. While in Alan Blunt's presents, she may have to act the cold hartless person, but in reality she was a sucker for happy endings and little fluffy bunnies. She was just the type of person to allow fraternising and relationships within the program, especially since she knew that the kids had been denied all of the other things teenagers took for granted. They didn't even drink here, on a beach, with the bar open all night and the bartender happy to serve anything to anyone. They said they simply didn't like the taste.

Alex got up and with a last look at the couple wrapped in each others arms a few towels away, he started to walk towards the end of the beach, moving to the waterline so the small waves could lap at his heels as he thought.

He thought about Maddie and smiled. He had called her every evening since Mrs. Jones suggested it, and the group had only been too happy to help him with background 'noise'. Diego, Conner, and even Dan had pretended to be loud rugby lads in the background, although they did have to explain to Dan what Rugby was exactly before he went and shouted something stupid like 'Did you see that touchdown I scored!' or 'that quarterback was crap! He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!' After a few hours of coaching, he finally got the hang of switching 'touchdown' for 'try', and 'quarterback' for 'hooker' to his immense pleasure. He just couldn't believe that the English had invented a game for which one of the key positions had the same name as a prostitute…

Yes. Now that he was in contact with Maddie, and she'd forgiven him for running off on her, Alex was feeling much happier. Although, he knew that come tomorrow, he'd have to give Mrs. Jones an answer, and that wasn't exactly going to be an easy decision, even now.

As he walked he sighed and looked up, finding himself at the end of the beach, near some rock pools. He stepped up onto the rough surface of the rocks and crouched down to watch the small fish swimming around, trapped in the pool until the next tide came in.

He was thinking of going for 'option number two'. He really wanted to tell Maddie what was going on, it didn't seem fair to him that she should be kept out of this. They'd promised to keep no secrets from each other, and it had stung him to agree to it in the first place, knowing that he had been lying to her from the very beginning. And she might just disown him for lying for so long, but, it was the right thing to do, she deserved to know, just like Sabina had.

Alex closed his eyes and tried to imagine what Sabina would look like now… longer hair maybe? He couldn't imagine her bright blue eyes changing, they say that's something that never changes.

Giving up, he turned and started to walk back down the beach, towards the sandcastle city, which now had water lapping around its base as the tide had started to come in. He could see Jose, the barman, walking around the beach lighting torches for the group to see by, including one down by the city. Squinting in the dim light, Alex noticed there were now three people trying to save the City, although he wouldn't be surprised if it was Trista trying to get in on the action. He'd spent some time with her in the Sickbay, and found her to be quite light-hearted in actuality. Obviously she'd been thanking Alex every moment she could for coming to her rescue, but it seemed Dan got a bit jealous of the praise, and quickly distracted her, something Alex thanked him for afterwards.

He smiled and looked down at his feet as he waded through the water, the very bottom of his swimming shorts darkening with damp. He liked doing this he'd found over the past few days, it was a well know way of strengthening and exercising the leg muscles, but it also kept the mind busy. And Alex liked anything that could distract him from his thoughts.

Alex approached the castle City, just as the first castle collapsed into the water.

"Oh no!" said Lisa, frantically trying to save the others by dredging emergency drainage moats, and slapping the sand she collected from them to the side of disintegrating castles. "The sea's coming in!"

Alex laughed and stood directly behind the dark skinned girl as she worked. "With that torch there, you almost could name it Atlantis!" he said, laughing at Diego as he was now using his plastic spade as a breakwater.

"Shut it Alex!" Diego wined as the castle he was protecting collapsed, "And anyway, wasn't Atlantis destroyed by floods, volcanoes and earthquakes? I can't see no earthquakes…" Lisa looked up stunned at her Spanish friend.

"Since when have you been reading Plato?" she said stopping all attempts to save the castles.

"Who cares!" Diego cried, "We must repel the water!" Lisa apparently agreed with him and started to frantically try and save three more castles simultaneously, resulting in them all collapsing at the same time. Alex laughed again.

"Kids! Huh?" he said to the person he'd assumed was Trista, "Who'd have'em…" he looked at the person as he said this and stopped dead. He didn't even notice the customary slap on the leg from Lisa at the remark.

"Alex!" the person said slowly, her sparkling blue eyes stupidly wide. It was the eyes that caught Alex's attention, what had he been thinking just a few minutes ago… the eyes never change…

"Sabina!"

* * *

_Ok, heh. So it's not so much a cliffhanger. I mean, the first line of the next chapter isn't going to be "Sabina? No, my name is Betty!" (then again, lol, that would be quite funny…) And I'm sorry this is boring, but it all needed to be said, and there will be some action next chapter._

_Anyway… yes, I'll be updating soon, so don't fret too much about the length. Also, if ur into FFVIII, then I'm writing a two Fics about it, one posted, and one with the first 2/3 chapters written and soon to go up. Just thought I'd give u a heads up._

_To my reviewers:_

_**DreamGirl101:** I hope u enjoy my Fic a bit more, although this chapter wasn't much (def. not my favourite), but the next few should be better. Keep with me and I promise to improve the Fic so u like it again! And I hope ur feeling better now._

_**Heather:** I'm glad you're so enthusiastic! (I'm amazed I spelled that correctly), and I hope you'll like what I'm planning! And I wouldn't blame u for being mad at me for the time between chapters. It is atrotious (see…Ae' canne spell!) (and its 'atrocious') _

_**Honey Nut Loop:** glad u liked it! normal service is almost resumed! And I hope to be more reliable than the trains… coz they say that all the time!_

_**obsessed4life:** just like the book? (blush) ur too kind! No, really, u are. I don't think Mr Horowitz would agree… (thanx anyway! lol)_


	14. Rocky Reunions

_Heya people! Ok, so a little longer than I promised last chapter, but it's amazing how what you thought was a finished product, suddenly turns into, um, unfinished? Anyway, I made a few changes due to continuity issues, and I need to inform the people who read the previous chapters some weeks previously to reading this that there has been a slight change in chapter 12 (Alex's and Trista's breakout):_

**_During the short car ride before the UNITI team come to the rescue, the Englishman (Mr Thomas, his name is there in the chapter if you look hard enough) previously just inspects Alex's backpack, but now he takes a liking to Alex's watch also, and Alex has to give it up to him. This is due to the fact that in the last chapter (13), Mrs Jones says that they follow a GPS beacon signal. The one I was thinking of at the time was on the Spanish manservant, but he was unconscious in the cell back at the 'base'. So, instead, they follow the tracker in Alex's watch. I'm sorry for changing things like this, but it was annoying me. I've changed the previous chapter, but it's really not worth going to read it agan just for an extra paragraph. So, just to recap, the Englishman is now wearing Alex's watch. _**

_Glad we got that out the way! Now! On with the story! And please do review! I do answer them, good or bad._

* * *

"Alex!" 

"Sabina!" Alex was frozen. Never, ever, in a million years, was he expecting to see that face again. Yet here, shimmering in the firelight, was the face that he'd been thinking about only a few minutes ago.

Incidentally, he had been right; her hair was longer, down to the middle of her back almost, and the eyes hadn't changed in the slightest. Her face had lost some of its childlike innocence, to be replaced by a more mature strength that looked, in Alex's opinion, quite frankly amazing on her.

"Oh, so you guys know each other then…" Diego said, not really noticing the total shock and amazement on either face since saving 'sandcastle city' was much more important. Lisa, being the nosy gossip queen that she was, caught on a lot quicker to the tension.

"Guys… breathe…" she said, looking from one face to the other. Eventually, Sabina spoke.

"B-but… you're supposed to be dead!" she whispered, "It was on the news and everything!"

"That's what they told us too…" Diego commented offhandedly, still not paying attention.

"I nearly was, I was in intensive care for a month." Alex said, "The sniper missed by millimetres…"

"Yeh! You should see the scar!" Diego said excitedly, earning a face-full of sand from Lisa. He looked up to protest and spotted the look of extreme annoyance and malice on his colleague's face only a few seconds before spotting the look of concern and wonder on the other girl's face, along with a simply amazed look on Alex's face. "Ohh…" he said.

Sabina stood shakily to look Alex in the eye. "But, then… Why didn't you ever call me?" she said. Alex could see tears starting to gather in the corners of her eyes. "How could you just forget me?" she said quietly, her bringing her clenched hand to her chest.

"Sab…" her tears started to fall and he instinctively tried to put a hand up to wipe them away, but she jerked away and hastily wiped them away herself.

"Don't! Just… don't." she said angrily before storming off up towards the other end of the beach. Alex just stood there in shock until a slap on his leg from Lisa brought him round.

"What are you waiting for exactly?" she said, looking up at him expectantly. He just looked back at her blankly. "Go after her you idiot!" she pointed down the beach towards the fast disappearing form that was Sabina.

Alex didn't need telling twice, and started running along the shore towards his one time girlfriend. "Sabina!" he called, "Wait up!"

Of course, she didn't slow down one bit, so Alex just fell into step next to her.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly as they walked, "I was under orders not to contact anybody." She flinched and walked faster. "It could have put you in danger!" Alex said more heatedly. "I couldn't do that to you! Not after everything that had already happened." Sabina stopped suddenly and turned to face him.

"But it was ok to let me mourn your death! You think THAT was fair?"

"No, it wasn't, but neither was making me give up my life and starting over! It hasn't all been daisies and roses for me either!" they were both shouting now, and Alex was sure their voices would carry down the beach with ease, but he didn't really care at this point.

"Believe me, I wanted to contact you, I really did! They had to take all the phones out the ward, and confiscated people's mobiles before coming in to visit me!" He turned away and looked out to sea. "Not that many people did." He added darkly. Sabina didn't say anything, so he continued.

"Almost a year later I was finally allowed out of that hospital, and I started a new life. Away from London, away from all my friends, away from MI6."

"Well at least I know I wasn't the only one you decided to leave high and dry!" Sabina said sarcastically.

"Look!" Alex said, his anger rising once more. "Having to try and forget you was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do!" He looked back at her angrily. "You can snipe all you want, but I did what I did to protect not only myself, but you and everyone else I care about." He sighed, managing to calm himself enough to tear his eyes away from her and back out to sea. "If they'd found out that they failed to kill me, they might have gone after my friends and family. And you might not have been so lucky…" he said the last sentence extremely quietly, and the two teenagers stood quietly together, Alex looking out to sea, Sabina staring into the back of his head with enough intensity that it really should have burnt a hole.

Eventually, Sabina's gaze broke, and she moved to stand beside Alex as he looked out to the quickly diminishing light on the horizon. "It was the first day of school in San Francisco when I found out…" she said quietly, "Half way through lunch break. They had TVs in the lunch hall you see, but they only put it on the News channels…" She sniffed and gave a small chuckle. "The teachers thought it was the stress of the first day nerves, coz, of course, I wasn't allowed to tell them about you…"

"I really am sorry Sab, I never wanted to put you through all that." Alex said, looking across to see his friend's cheeks covered in tears.

"I know." She said simply, "I was just angry before…" she looked at him sharply, "I still am by the way!" Her eyes softened, "But I know you didn't have much choice, otherwise you could have come and lived with me, rather than wherever you did go…" she trailed off and looked at him hopefully, Alex couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry, you know I can't tell you that…" she pouted and he laughed, "but I would have liked to come and live my life with you." He screwed up his nose, "As long as I wasn't your brother… I don't know much about the Americans, but I don't think they're too hot on inter-sibling relationships."

Sabina scoffed before laughing. "And what makes you think I would want a relationship with you!" Alex smiled in response.

"I believe the exact line was 'Much cuter than James Bond'…" he said, giving a fake look of deep thought, "but I'll have to check my sources to be sure…"

"Oh, and what sources might they be!" Sabina said, her hands on her hips.

"Well, for one, I don't think you noticed your mother standing just outside the door." Alex lied, very convincingly if he did say so himself. Sabina's mouth fell open.

"You mean to say that when I snuck into your room to kiss you, which was extremely romantic for a 14 year old thank-you-very-much, you were more interested in my eavesdropper of a mother?"

Alex couldn't help himself, his cheeky smile broke into a full-scale belly laugh, and it wasn't long before Sabina joined him. Had anyone walked past the two just then, they couldn't have guessed that only a couple of minutes before, they'd been having an extremely heated argument. In fact, most the UNITI team, at the other end of the beach, were starting to ask themselves if they'd imagined the raised voices.

"So anyway…" Alex said after they'd calmed down, "what brings you to the beautiful island of Curacao anyway?" Sabina raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, it's the summer holiday…" she looked at him rather harshly, "Why? What brings _you_ to Curacao?" Alex inwardly flinched, he knew she wouldn't be pleased if she found out he was working for MI6 again. Then again, didn't he agree that both she and Maddie deserved to know everything?

"Well, I s'pose you've already signed the Official Secrets Act…" It proved to be the wrong thing to say as Sabina exploded once more.

"WHAT! After what happened last time? What are you? Stupid?"

"Sab, please! You don't understand!"

"What? What don't I understand? That this is what ruined your life last time? That you gave up your old life to get away from this!" she was starting to shout again.

"Your right!" Alex agreed quickly, "it was what ruined my life, my entire family's life in fact, but MI6 needed my help."

"Hmm, now, where have I heard that before?" Sabina said angrily, "Oh yeh! Four years ago when they duped a 14 year old boy into doing their dirty work for them!" the UNITI members were listening in again (not that it was very hard to do), and were looking around at one another, but Alex was trying to ignore them.

"Not this time!" Alex replied and Sabina's mouth stopped mid-response as he held up his hand to stop her. "This time I did it out of choice! Ok, so they're not too hot on giving you choices, but they came to me because they mucked up."

"And I suppose they told you that you were the only one who could fix it!" Sabina said, crossing her arms against her chest.

"He was!" Someone called from the towelled area; Alex quickly identified the person as Trista. She was attempting to get up, and with the help of Dan slowly made her way over to the pair.

"I don't know exactly how much you know, but you obviously know about Alex." Sabina snorted a laugh and shot him an angry glance. Trista continued as if Sabina hadn't even reacted, "But you won't know me. I went on a mission and managed to get captured." She was about to go on, but Dan coughed and she seemed to rethink what she was about to say.

"Look," she continued, "It's complicated, but he really was the only one who could mount a rescue mission. And if he hadn't chosen to do it, I would probably be dead, or worse, still being held."

Sabina didn't comment back, but neither did her angry expression fade. She just stood there, staring at Trista, as if trying to decide if she could trust her or not. After a few minutes of this Alex spoke up.

"Sab?" he said uncertainly, and she snapped her head round to look at him.

"What am I s'posed to say?" she exclaimed, "Sorry?"

"It would be a start…" Dan mumbled, receiving a glare from all others who heard it (and with the entire UNITI team listening in, that was a lot of people).

"Well you're not going to get one! I still stand by my argument. MI6 didn't have to send you in, as a last resort they could have sent any of you… I'm guessing you're all agents of some type or another."

"True," said Dan, who seemed to be trying to make up for the earlier comment, "but we have nobody with as much experience as Alex in the field. If any of us went in, there was no guarantee that we'd come back out."

"There was no guarantee that Alex would come back out!" Sabina countered angrily.

"Sab, please! I can fight my own battles."

"Really? Well how come its me doing all the fighting here!"

"Because I've already been though this with both Bunt and Jones." She looked at him blankly, "the head and deputy head of MI6."

"Well it looks like they won the battle then." She said simply. Alex rounded on her.

"Look, Sabina, no offence but you really don't know enough to be arguing about this. The fact is that I _did_ agree to do it, and I'm glad I did. If I had to do it again, I would, in an instant." Sabina looked slightly taken aback and Alex was spurred on by the fact.

"Being a spy is in my blood. At the age of one my dad was killed because he was a British spy who was found out. My uncle, also a British spy, raised me from then on, giving me the skills I'd need as a spy until four years ago when he was killed in action. Then MI6 took me on, using me to complete my uncle's mission."

The entire UNITI team was listening in now, this was part of the story they were never told, and they were interested. Sabina was also listening, but it was with more of a sad, pitying expression that was crossing her face.

"I _am_ a spy, Sab. Whether you, me, or anyone else likes it." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Over the past few days I've been wrestling with the decision of whether or not to continue with this 'spy game'," He looked back up at Sabina, "you might like to know that you've just helped me make up my mind on one point. There is no way I'm going to go back to that 'life' that I've been living these past few years just to leave all this behind. This; spying, MI6, is what I do best, and its what I want to do for the rest of my life, even if that means I don't live that long…"

With that he turned and walked away, towards the bar. He wasn't going to drown his sorrows or anything, but there really wasn't anywhere else he could go on the tiny beach.

"A coke please, Jose." He said to the barman, who'd been listening the entire time. Luckily, he was an MI6 familiar, and knew all about Alex and UNITI, or at least, he did now.

"Señor…" Jose said simply, handing the sugary drink over quickly as if Alex was just about to explode on him too. He quickly rushed off to add it to the tab in the back room, as far away from Alex as possible.

It was only a few minutes before someone sat on the stool next to Alex, but it was quite a few more before anything was said.

"I'm sorry…" Sabina said softly, looking down at her hands. "I had no right to go off like that." Alex just stared into his untouched drink as if it held all the secrets of the universe.

"You're probably right, I don't know enough to comment." There was more silence.

"If it makes you feel any better," Alex said, lifting his gaze from the coke, "even though I had all the information, I used almost the exact same argument when MI6 tracked me down about a week ago."

"So you can see where I'm coming from?" Sabina said hopefully.

"Yes," Alex sighed, "I can see exactly where you're coming from, and that's partly why it effected me so much." There was another pause.

"Did you know that MI6 were thinking of asking you to join the team behind you on the beach?" Alex said. He saw Sabina turn in her seat to look at the group of kids behind her.

"Me?" She said as she turned back to face Alex. "But I'm no spy…" Alex laughed softly and turned in his seat to fact the beach, coke in hand and back against the bar.

"It seems they thought you were well up to the challenge. If they had had their way, there was even a chance you'd be leading this rabble." He chuckled, indicating the group with a wave of his free hand. He took a sip of the drink before steadying his voice.

"If they had asked you, what would you have said?" he said quietly, once more studying his drink rather than the girl next to him. Sabina took a long while to answer.

"A few years ago, I would have probably said yes…" she sighed, "I was unhappy at my new school, and it would have meant a chance for revenge of your death."

"But now?" Alex asked.

"Now… I'm not sure." She looked out at the group of agents playing in the moonlight. "For one I've got friends and family that I know I couldn't leave."

"I know the feeling," Alex murmured.

"Then there's the fact that you're not actually dead, so the revenge theory goes out the window…" Alex snorted into his drink.

"Yeah, I think I like that reason best so far."

"And then there's the whole argument I just spewed at you back there." She looked at Alex. "If I didn't follow my own advice it would kinda make me a hypocrite."

Alex laughed and looked at her. "You know, you're much more mature as an adult!" she smiled back at him. "You're not still grading boys on that scale of 20 are you!"

Sabina laughed and, although in the low light it was hard to tell, Alex was sure he could see her blushing. "Now it's marks out of 100…"

* * *

A few hours and an assortment of barbecued chicken pieces later, the party started to break up. Dan and Trista had left ages ago since she had felt tired. Dan said he'd take her back to the hotel, and then return to the beach to pick everyone else up later. Mya was currently sleeping on one of the towels, and the rest were just finishing off their third, and in Conner's case, fifth helping of chicken. It wasn't the fact that Conner had a large stomach, but hardly anybody wanted to touch his food, so there was a simply lot of chicken left over, and Conner didn't like leaving leftover food! 

"Isn't somebody going to help me finish this lot off?" he said with a mouthful of chicken breast.

"Argh, Conner!" Lisa cried as a piece of the chicken that was in Conner's mouth a second ago missed her by inches, "Were you in the sickbay during those etiquette lessons!" Conner just shrugged and turned to Sabina, looking for her to help him finish.

"Sorry…" she said quickly, "I need to get going!" Conner turned to Alex and he jumped to his feet like he'd been stung.

"And I'm walking her home!" He gave her a pleading look and it seemed she caved in.

"Yeh, sorry Conner…" she said, grabbing Alex's hand and starting to lead him away from the group. "It was nice to meet all of you!" she called out as they walked slowly away. A few people shouted back, and there were a few waves, but soon Alex found himself walking down a rough dirt track with only moonlight to guide the way.

Ok, so he had something else too. Sabina hadn't let go of his hand yet, and he wasn't complaining. Her hand was comfortably warm, and for some reason he couldn't stop marvelling at the way it seemed to fit so perfectly into his.

"So…" he said, for once glad of the darkness for hiding the goofy smile that he was sure was playing on his lips. "Where are you staying? And of all the beaches on this island, why exactly were you on 'this' beach this evening?"

"Yeh, you're right, spying is in your nature." Sabina laughed, "You're instinctively nosey!" Alex allowed himself a laugh and found that it felt good to joke about it at last.

"I'm staying with my parents in the landhouse up here." She said, pointing at the yellow painted walls of the two story 'landhuis' that would have been home to a family of slave traders during the 1600s. It wasn't surprising to see it there, out in the middle of nowhere. The houses were usually built in close proximity to the remote beaches; it would have been like owning their own huge swimming pool.

"And as to why I was at the beach, I might ask you why you were there, considering it was meant to be for the exclusive usage of the residents and guests of the landhouse." Sabina said, and even in the low light, Alex could see her raising her eyebrows in question.

"We chose it because we thought it would be quiet…" Alex said, lying through his teeth. There was no way he was going to admit that it was chosen because they'd gotten lost while he was driving, and this was just the beach they'd turned up on. The fact that it was the beach they had been aiming for in the first place, because they knew Jose (the barman) was an MI6 familiar, was just luck.

They walked slowly, taking it in turns to ask questions, but since Alex still refused to tell her anything definite about his new life, it soon turned into a one sided conversation. As Sabina talked, Alex started to notice certain 'Americanisms' in the way she spoke. Ok, so she still said 'mum' instead of 'mom', but her accent had a slight nasally sound that definitely wasn't there before.

_(AN: Before I get flames for saying that, I lived last year with an American guy, and he agreed with me that the American accent is much more nasally than the British one. However, he lived in California and Hawaii (lucky bastard!), and I have no idea what the San Francisco accent is like, so I could be totally wrong.)_

"…he was a git though, so I dumped him!" she concluded, making Alex laugh. _(AN: this is in no way a comment aimed at the guy I lived with lol)_

"So…" Alex said, faking concentration and counting on his fingers, "How many of you're male classmates _haven't_ you been out with?" he earned a whack across the stomach for that, although he was laughing as he doubled over.

"I've only had four boyfriends since I've been out there!" she said hotly, "and I was only with Steven for a week! I just told you he was a git!" Alex continued to giggle stupidly, earning himself yet another whack.

"And anyway! You're one to talk! I bet you were netting girls left, right, and centre!" she said irritably, crossing her arms. The statement sobered Alex a little, it brought Maddie to the front of his mind, and although he was in contact with her again, he sill missed her.

"No," he sighed, his giggles having subsided quite abruptly, "Just the one…" Sabina caught on to his sudden change in mood.

"You love her." She said quietly, smiling softly at him. If Alex hadn't been too embarrassed to look at her face, he would have seen a classic 'awww, that's so sweet!' look.

"She's like my best friend…" he snuck a look at Sabina's face, catching sight of the look. "Ohh, no no! Not like that! She's like a sister to me! Eww!" He shook his head to get rid of the image of him and Maddie together like 'that'. They might have been together a few years back, but nowadays… blegh!

"Ahh yes," said Sabina happily, "and we both know your views on inter-sibling relationships!" Alex stuck his tongue out at her.

A few minutes more, and they were standing outside the rather impressive mud-brick building. Now up closer, Alex could see that most the downstairs rooms had lights on, and there was a large covered porch area, probably where the meals were served. In the rather large car park (it was out in the middle of nowhere after all, it was practically all car park!), Alex spotted a rather plush stretched limo.

"Ooh, I see you travel in style!" he said, pointing out the car to Sabina. "I know your dad's book did well, but isn't that a bit over the top?"

"That's not ours!" she replied, laughing a little. "Dad hates flashing his money about," she craned her neck around Alex to look at the car park better, "that's ours!" she said, pointing to a little white 4x4 Suzuki soft-top. On the rear-guard there was a bright orange sticker proclaiming it was from 'Budget rent-a-car'. "I like it!" she said enthusiastically, "We never put the top up, so I can get a tan while we travel!" She giggled and Alex groaned. What was it with girls and tanning at all possible times?

"No, I don't recognise that limo…" Sabina said, turning to stare into the black tinted windows, "I don't think it was out here when I went down to the beach."

"Well, if it just arrived, it would explain all the lights on in the house at…" Alex checked his wrist only to realise that he still hadn't replaced the watch that Mr Thomas, the Englishman, had taken three days ago. Noticing his plight, Sabina answered for him.

"Three in the morning." She looked up at the building, "Actually yeh. As far as I know, we're the only people staying at the moment, and I doubt dad would be waiting up for me!" she said will a small laugh.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds. Normally, this would be the bit where they'd say 'goodbye', and 'see you soon', but they both knew that it wouldn't, couldn't, ever be like that for them.

"So…" said Sabina after a short while, "I don't suppose you have a mobile number you could give me?" she smiled doubtfully, and Alex met her gaze with a sad smile.

"I'm afraid that would count as 'communication', and now that I'm back with MI6 its likely that someone's going to find out I'm still alive. It's just not safe for you to be in contact with me, especially by trans-Atlantic mobile phone calls." He said softly.

"What about email? Tracing where a hotmail message is picked up would be almost impossible." Sabina countered, making Alex smile.

"Yeh, you'd think that, wouldn't you…" Sabina looked at him as if there was something he wasn't telling her. "I can talk to MI6 about it, but I can't promise anything." He continued, trying to put on a hopeful expression.

"Good!" she said, grabbing him by the arm (their hands had let go along time ago now, probably around the time Alex started to deserve slaps for his cheeky comments) and leading him towards the front door. "Come inside and I can get some paper to write it on for you."

Alex was very tempted to tell her it was ok, and that MI6 would be able to tell him, but then again, this way he got to spend a few more minutes with her. He had to wait for Dan to get back from the hotel anyway!

As they were about to climb the stairs (or dragged in Alex's case), the two heard a heated voice coming from one of the rooms further down the corridor.

"We lost the ENTIRE crop!" Alex froze, much to Sabina's puzzlement as her grip on his arm forced her to stop just as fast.

"Alex?" she said. Alex just put his finger to his mouth, indicating that she be quiet and moved closer to the door, slipping from her grasp.

"How can you be sure?" on the second time of hearing, Alex was certain that he knew whom the voice belonged to. And he was wearing Smithers' watch! Something about his expression must have told Sabina something, because he saw her eyes widen.

"What?" she whispered, and when he didn't respond, "WHAT!"

"Shh!" Alex hissed as the Englishman spoke again.

"Look, we've got a delivery to make in a week, and I can't do that if we have nothing to deliver! … What do I want you to do about it? … Find out where they're taken it! We practically own all the warehouses on the island! … My god! Were you born stupid! … I'll be sure to inform Raven of that.. OUCH! Watch it!"

Alex heard a second, quieter voice apologising profusely. Hadn't Mya set off some explosives right at his feet? Maybe he was having some kind of surgery at the same time? Either way, he wasn't going to let Sabina get involved with it. He grabbed her arm.

"Listen to me!" he said, "I need you to go up to your room and forget what you just heard!" she went to retort, but Alex cut her off. "You're going to go to bed, then get up tomorrow as normal. Tell no one that you've seen me, especially not your parents." Apparently, she didn't agree.

"I want to help!" she said quickly, ignoring his 'order' all together. "It's obvious that your involved with something, and you said yourself that MI6 wanted me."

"They _did_, and I think the fact that it's past tense makes the word all the more important! Its way too dangerous, and you've had no training." He pulled her back down the corridor and over to the stairs by the arm. "Please! Just go upstairs!" he pleaded, and when she just looked defiantly back at him, her arms crossed, he used the one card he knew had the best chance of working. "For me?" he said, slightly puppy dogging his eyes. She folded almost instantly.

"Alex…" she started to say something, but the door they had just been listening at opened and the Englishman walked through, still talking into his mobile.

"I'm coming over! That way I'll be able to confirm what an imbecile you are!" Alex tried to shove Sabina up the stairs before the man saw, but they had been directly in the man's view, and he saw them almost instantly. "It's YOU!" the man said in disbelief.

"Quickly! Out the front door!" Alex yelled, and the two (who were closer to the door than the man) managed to get outside before the Englishman regained his composure. As they ran back towards the beach, Alex took a look over his shoulder at the man, noticing him hobbling slowly after them. It seemed Mya's gum/flash-bang combination had managed to blow off his entire right foot, and the surgery he'd been having moments before was for the fitting of a small wooden leg. There was even a length of bandage trailing behind it still. Something else caught Alex's eye however as the man pulled out a handgun from his belt.

"Sabina! GET DOWN!" Alex yelled. There was a loud crack and a burst of dirt and gravel went up a few feet from Alex's head as he and Sabina hit the deck. Another series of cracks, and more bits of flying dirt followed directly after.

Alex knew they were too open and vulnerable lying in the middle of the road, so he got up and rushed over to Sabina.

"Into the bush!" he yelled as he hauled her to her feet over the noise of yet more shots. Luckily this guy seemed to have crap aim, the dust around them taking the hot lead, rather than them.

Alex dragged a stumbling Sabina into the dusty arid land at the side of the road. It was still open, but at least there were a few Divi-divi trees and small bushes dotting the ground, instead of the sheer openness of the road. Alex led her downhill, breaking line of sight with the Englishman behind them. Sensing this, Alex dragged her down behind a rather large shrub just as the man hobbled to the ridge of the rise.

"Just don't scream if he shoots!" Alex whispered to Sabina as she led beside him, panting.

"This is fun!" she said, and for the first time in his life, Alex felt the urge to punch her. Getting shot at wasn't his idea of fun!

"This isn't a game Sabina!" he hissed. "Those are real bullets he's shooting at us!" If anything, her eyes shone brighter.

"I know! Isn't it exciting!"

"After all you went through, I would have thought you'd be someone who valued your life more..." Alex said darkly, turning to look up at the man at the top of the hill. He had gotten a torch from somewhere, and was now actively looking for them. Obviously this man hadn't experience in nighttime tracking, and as he shone the light on the bush Alex and Sabina were hiding behind, Alex was silently relieved. Shining the light on the bush would illuminate the front, creating uneven shadows on the people hiding behind it, providing them with very effective camouflage.

"Think about who else is involved here!" Alex hissed at Sabina once the man had focused his attention further down the hill. "Both your parents are back in the landhouse, and since you're the only ones staying there, this guy will know that you're connected with them somehow. By looking in the books, he'd have the names, address and telephone numbers of you're entire family!" Sabina's smile faded somewhat.

"On top of that he saw you with me. He knows exactly who I am, so you're now connected with me and MI6, making you even more of a target!" Alex thumped the ground with frustration. "Great! So it seems four years of trying to forget you was just a waste of time!"

"Alex…" Sabina whispered, Alex was glad to hear a note of panic in her voice, "He's coming!"

Alex's head snapped round to find the Englishman walking directly at them. A glance at his eyes showed that he was still scanning further down the hill, Alex let out a silent breath. Moving extremely quietly and being sure to not disturb the bush in front of him, Alex got to his feet, crouching behind the shrub and picking up a small stone as he rose.

"What're you…" Sabina tried to whisper, but a warning glance from Alex shut her up quickly.

Alex went into a practiced combat-ready position; his feet shoulder width apart, balanced on the balls of his feet, although he was crouched a little further down than he'd like to be. He waited quietly as he watched the man reach the front of the bush he was crouched behind. The Englishman stopped for a moment, looking around with the torch a little more. Alex took the opportunity to throw the rock down the hill a little way, attracting the attention of the man. The torchlight immediately focused on the bush Alex's rock had hit, and the man moved quickly round Alex's side of the bush, his gun raised, just as Alex thought he would.

Alex waited until the optimum moment before unleashing a vicious roundhouse kick into the Englishman's stomach. The gun went off but it only hit dirt, and a second later, Alex kicked it out of the man's grasp, ripping the torch out his other hand in the seconds that followed that.

The Englishman never knew what hit him. One minute he was tracking down the pair of kids that had fled from him, and then he was on his back with his own torch shining in his eyes, blinding him. Then he knew no more as he was knocked unconscious by a ferocious kick to the side of his head.

"What did you have to do that for!" Sabina gasped as Alex delivered the last kick to the man's head.

"Believe me, Trista really wouldn't mind me doing that at all…" Alex grumbled, kicking the man in the side once more for the hell of it.

Suddenly, Alex heard an engine coming up the road they'd just left.

"Here," Alex said, handing Sabina the torch which he'd now turned off, "Stay here while I go check who that is. It could be Dan back from the Hotel."

Without waiting for a response, Alex ran off back up the hill in the direction of the road. At the brow, he ducked behind another conveniently placed shrub, and spotted the familiar tin-can-on-wheels. He stepped out onto the road and waved Dan down, who stopped the van and wound down the passenger window to talk to Alex. However, Alex didn't give him a chance and spoke first.

"We have a slight problem…"

* * *

_**Reviewer's corner:**_

_**Honey Nut Loop:** Thankee! Glad you liked it! You almost missed the update? Maybe that's what happened to all my other reviewers… sigh, Ohh well… (nice evil laugh by the way!)_

_**kkcnbay5:** Hehehe… yes, I'm afraid I did have to do that! Its called suspense! Lol there's gotta be something to keep you coming back to read more! I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway! And lucky for you, there's plenty more suspenseful moments coming soon. Not this chapter though. :(_

_Any more reviewers out there! (hears an echo) Ahh... well... Reviews would be greatly appreciated! How else are you going to tell me what you think of the story?_


	15. Status Report

_It's short, it's sweet, it's meant to wet your appetite after my long absence from the writing world. For those of you that have just read this the whole way through from the start; it's been over a year since I've posted anything on this site (other than a chapter on my Harry Potter fic earlier today), and for my reappearance, you have 'Saynt Jimmy' and 'WritingOnAFullMoon' for their reviews that kick started me to write some more. (I know there were others of you, but those reviews came in Jan/Feb, and I'm afraid I ignored them in the most part. I shall endeavour to make it up to you guys for being a slow-ass)._

_Anyway, here's a little taster of what's soon to come your way (I hope...)_

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_**Alex Rider: UNITI  
Chapter 15:** 'Status Report'_

"His name is William Thomas,"

The team was assembled back on board HMS Southampton, this time in one of the briefing rooms, where Mrs Jones was updating them on the situation. Sabina and her family had been taken aboard, and were staying in a secure location towards the aft of the ship, along with Mr Thomas, who was in the ship's brig.

"He's a known drug lord that used to operate in the Kensington area of London, up until June '93, when the drug squad caught up with him. He fled to Columbia, and the British government lost track of him. A few years later, one of our deep cover agents," her eyes flickered to Alex for a milliseconds before she continued, "identified him on the neighbouring island of Aruba, working for Scorpia in the same capacity he had been in London."

Alex watched her closely as she passed along the front of the briefing room, "Apparently he'd been working for Scorpia as far back as when the drug squad were investigating him, and they were the ones who protected him back in his '93 escape. Although, there was no way we could touch him without exposing our agent."

"So wait," Alex said, interrupting Mrs Jones, and drawing wide-eyed looks from the UNITI team, who had been taught never to interrupt a briefing, "You knew that he was a part of Scorpia, but you sent in an agent to check him out anyway?"

Mrs Jones frowned, "The mission was meant to be simple. Yes, we knew that he was ex-Scorpia, and we also knew about his base of operations, but our intelligence was getting old, and we needed someone to go in and confirm it, especially since Scorpia is no longer operating. It's standard operating procedure to keep our intelligence up to date, and as far as we knew, Thomas was only a small time drug lord. Easy for someone as skilled as Trista."

"So," said Alex, "What changed to make this into such a disaster?"

Mrs Jones walked over to the table and picked up a file, opening it and sliding it over to Alex. It contained a profile of the man who called himself 'Raven'.

"Josef Mateo, field name 'Raven', was another Scorpia operative who we knew about, but hadn't connected to these islands." Mrs Jones swallowed and started pacing again, "As far as we knew, he was a deputy in one of Scorpia's US based drugs rings, and not anyone important at that. We knew that it was possible that the Cocaine from Curacao was being smuggled to that ring, but with Moles, getting definite information like that could be overly dangerous, so we gave him orders to stop at profiling.

"More recently, the NSA placed their own little Mole into the drugs ring, and came out with intelligence that suggested that Mateo had taken over the entire ring, after the previous 'baron' had been killed during Scorpia's collapse. This makes him a force to be reckoned with, but he isn't our main concern at the moment.

"What we have to worry about at the moment is that he had a direct business relationship with another of Scorpia's agents; Andy Webb, code name 'Killer Whale'."

From behind the desk, Lisa gasped, and everyone, especially Dan for some reason, looked worried. Alex coughed nervously.

"Er, guys? Is there something you want to tell me? Or are you going to keep me in suspense?" The team nearly all turned and looked at him with a strange look.

"You mean, you don't _know_?" Diego said, "Man, how out of the loop are you?"

Alex glanced at Mrs Jones, who seemed to have a look of regret behind her eyes, but like all of her emotions, blink and you miss it, and it was soon lost in the depths of her eyes.

"Webb was the head of one of the most dangerous branches of Scorpia before it disbanded," she said simply, "Alex, Webb is now the head of an assassin's guild by the name of the 'Order of Samuel' and was the person who sent out the assassin that attempted to kill you, on Julia Rothman's request. Needless to say, he thinks his agent was successful, so if Raven tells him that he just made contact with an 'Alex Rider', he's not going to be best pleased."

Alex felt as if his world had just lost it's floor, and was now in free-fall into the darkest depths of nothingness. All those years of being 'safe', and suddenly his whole life was back in the brown stuff.

"It's not as bad as you're thinking Alex," Mrs Jones said, breaking into Alex's thoughts, "Noone other than Mr Blunt, Carter, myself and the people in this room know anything about your new identity, and the only people that know the whole truth are Blunt, Carter, and myself. I can assure you that Carter is one of our most trusted agents, and I don't think you need my assurance that Mr Blunt and myself are trustworthy. Even _if_ Webb finds out your still alive, there's no way to link your name back to your new life." Alex closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What about Sabina and her family? Unlike me, they still have their old names, and I'm sure that research into me would have been conducted before my assassin was sent out. This Webb guy, he'll know all about Sabina, and probably exactly where she sleeps at night. Not to mention the fact that she was staying in a hotel that we can almost guarantee was owned by Raven's organisation, seeing as how Mr Thomas was being 'operated on' there."

"Yes," Mrs Jones said, "That is one of the problems we have at the moment. Just know that for the time being, they're safe and sound."

"So," Alex said, resigning himself for the worst, "What do we do? What _can_ we do?"

"Well, thanks to what you overheard, we know that Raven is going to attempt to re-take his cocaine stash, _and_ that he has to make a delivery to someone within the week." Mrs Jones said, "Now, our Mole within Raven's organisation has informed us within the last few hours, that the delivery is to Webb, and that he's flying into the island through the main airport sometime in the 72 hours."

"I'm proposing that we let him take back his drugs, and let him meet with Webb. Once we have them both in the same place, we ambush them and, best case scenario; take them both alive, worst case scenario; we eliminate both. We can get NSA and MI6 agents over here within that time to help set things up, and I know an SAS squad that would only be too happy to help you out Alex." Mrs Jones cracked a small smile, "Wolf would be over the moon to find out your still alive."

Alex ran things over in his head slowly. If they could contain Raven and Webb, dead or alive, in this STING, then all his problems would disappear, but it _had_ to go to plan.

If it didn't... then things could get worse...

A lot worse...

If that was even possible.

"Ok," Alex said suddenly, "I'll go along with this..." he reached over and grabbed a map of the island and placed it in front of him on the table, "Where do we start?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_See! Short and sweet. I hope it tides you over for a week or so while I get my ass into gear. For anybody who continues to read this after waiting a year for an update: I love you guys!_

_(Review to tell me that you are still here!)_

_Chris_


	16. NOTE: To all my readers

**EDIT: _05 Dec 07_**

**This 'chapter' is nice and all, but is now defunked as I have decided to continue the story. If this is your first read-through of the fic, you can feel free to skip this chapter, as it doesn't reflect my current attitude towards the story. I'm only keeping it up because I'm using the reviews received from this chapter to motivate me (thank you to those people, you know who you are). You're all really nice people, which is much less than I deserve for mucking you around so much.**

**Thanks to the lot of you!**

**Chris**

* * *

Hi there people.

This, as you might have already guessed due to the length, is not a new chapter. I'm reluctant to tell you that there is a very large possibility that there will never be another chapter to this story as you see it today. It's simply been too long since I last sat down and thought about it, and I feel that my writing style, as well as writing quality, has changed a great deal since that point in time.

It saddens me to think that this fic will never be finished, but I'm afraid that that is the unhappy truth. I have recently thought about totally editing and re-writing the fic, to bring it up to date with what I feel my standard of writing should be, but as this story was written before Arc Angel, it is no longer cannon, and therefore public interest in it is greatly diminished.

If there _is_ definite interest, I might seriously consider doing just that this summer (and that would, naturally, involve finishing the story), but there would have to be serious interest, and again, it would definitely not be any time before July.

I'd like to thank everyone who's read the story up to this point, and especially those who left reviews. This was my first ever fic, and those reviews were very important for my confidence as a writer in those early days. They still mean a lot to me now, but it was those first few that left comments have had a great deal of influence over me, and it's to them that I must thank most. I doubt I would still be writing today if I hadn't had the good reception that I had.

Anyway, as sad as this all is, I am still writing, and anyone who enjoyed this fic should check out some of my other works that take place in the Harry Potter universe. I'm also about to re-submit a story in the FF8 section that I've re-vamped.

Thank you again for your support over the years this story has been around. If you have any questions or queries, feel free to leave a review, or pm/email me via the links on my Profile Page.

Chris  
a.k.a. 'Fensta'


	17. Spaniard in Sheep's Clothing

**Hey there... It's been a while...  
So, this is how it is at the moment. Recently, I've been getting pressure from all sides to finish this story, not least from people on my university course. As strange as that is for me (usually I can hide from the people who want me to hurry up with an update, not so when you see them every day...), I have decided to bow to public and peer pressure and attempt to finish the story.**

**The way I see it going (for I have planned it out roughly), there should be 4 more chapters, including this one, and then possibly one 'post story' round-up, an 'epilogue' if you will. Then I plan to start a totally new and separate Alex Rider fic (which has been started) that has nothing to do with this one. But that's way into the future, and I promise not to even think about it until I finish this one. I'm not going to give myself any deadlines, because then it feels too much like I'm forcing it out, but I do promise to finish it, on pain of - well - pain from my coursemates. They'll be more than happy to beat me up if I'm lazy.**

**I do apologize for the extreme delay, and if you are still with me, I have to tell you now that I really appreciate it.**

**So, here you go!  
Enjoy!**

* * *

The airport was quiet... too quiet... 

Conner chuckled to himself at his over active imagination as he lifted his head from the sniper scope he'd 'acquired' from the HMS Southampton. Well, technically it had been Diego who had actually stolen the scope -and the attached rifle- but who was counting?

Conner put his eye back to the scope, scanning the airport once more. From the top of a cliff to the west of the runway, Conner had a perfect view of the entire area, including a nice view into the largest of the airport's hangers. The airport _was_ quiet, he supposed, but for an airport this size and at this time of night, it wasn't exactly going to be a bustling metropolis of life either. There seemed to be a few solitary figures running about in open-top Jeeps and talking on hand sets, but other than the drone of their motors, the airport was quiet in the literal term too.

If he strained his ears, Conner could hear the crashing waves breaking against the cliffs, over 200 meters away from his current position.

Shaking is head to clear his thoughts, he shifted his scope to aim at the public entrance to the airport, looking for a particular Spaniard by the name of Diego Campos.

Diego had been dispatched with Conner (along with the van that thought it was a tin can) to scout out the airport and check security. Whilst Conner had taken the high road, Diego, with his superior skill at looking inconspicuous, had decided to check out the front of the airport. If a big ally of the island's underground world was coming in by plane, there'd be some increase in security. The question really wasn't 'if', rather 'how much' security was provided. Seeing as how from Conner's position, security seemed to be at an all time low, he hoped Diego had at least spotted someone who could be considered a guard.

Then again, the less guards... the easier the mission... right?

Conner scanned the car park, easily spotting Diego as he leaned against the van's door with his arms crossed. Frowning, Conner quickly got out his iPod, Smithers' answer to radio communication, and selected the song 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias, sticking the headphones in his ears. Within a few seconds, Diego's hand dug into his pocket, dragging out his own iPod. He fiddled with it for a few seconds, but suddenly his Spanish drawl appeared in Conner's head.

"_Yeh, what's up?"_

Conner rolled his eyes. "I was hopin' ye' could tell me!" he said quietly, although the microphone built into the headphones cable picked up every word. "Have ye' even been inside the fron' doors yet?"

Through the scope, Conner watched as Diego allowed himself a small chuckle. _"Sure I 'ave." _his voice came back, _"Just because you did no' see me, does no' mean I did no' go." _Conner felt like firing a shot into the van door, as close to Diego's head as possible, but thought better of it at the last minute. Diego carried on, unaware, _"It's deserted. No one home..."_

Conner frowned again. No security? No one at all? Was Webb planning on walking straight off the plane and into a car unprotected. Not very 'drug lord'.

"No worries," Conner said, turning his attention back to the airstrip, "Keep an eye open fer' any incoming vehicles. The Mark might not want any security here, but he sure as hell won' be _walking_ to the hideout."

"_Copy that."_ Diego replied, although Conner hardly acknowledged the words, so used to hearing them.

It was a number of minutes before something peaked Conner's interest. From somewhere to the south west, the faint drone of engines permeated the cool evening air. It didn't take too long before Conner identified the sound of a dual propeller engined aircraft, however, before he could distinguish the exact make and model, the plane made a rather loud appearance as it landed on the runway, only about 150 meters away, having flown over Conner's head.

Conner reached for his iPod to call up Diego again, but he heard his own track playing in his head (' Fairytale of New York', by the Pogues), and he pressed the central button to accept the call.

"Go ahead, Diego." he said, refocusing his sight as the plane finished slowing and started taxiing towards one of the smaller hangers.

"_We have company,"_ the Spaniard said, somewhat breathlessly, _"Two open-top 4x4s wit' mounted M60s, a transport full of troops, all armed wit' M16s, and a Hummer, probably heavily armoured."_ Conner heard the Spaniard swear under his breath. _"Make that two transports of troops."_

Conner sighed, "Copy that. Stay out of sight, Diego. There's nothing we can do from here, other than contact Alex and warn him."

"_I'm on it."_ Diego's voice came back. Conner nodded unconsciously, readjusting his sight once again as the plane disappeared into a hangar that he couldn't see into. He watched as the convoy that Diego had just warned him about drove onto the apron, and into the hangar. There were, indeed, two open-topped Suzuki 4x4s, with M60 machine guns mounted just behind the driver, however, at present, there was no gunner. Conner hoped that it stayed that way, and resisted the urge to take out the tires of one or more of the vehicles. It would be easy enough to do, but then Webb would probably get back on his plane and fly away.

Not good.

Suddenly, Fairytale of New York sounded in his thoughts, and Conner touched his iPod once more.

"Yello..."

"_Conner?"_ Alex's voice came over the radio, he sounded quite alarmed. _"Is what Diego tells me true?"_

"Yes, Sir." Conner replied, "A five vehicle convoy, with two truckloads of troops and two jeep-mounted M60s." He heard Alex groan on the other end of the line, "However, the machine guns aren't manned at the moment. It'll only take a couple of seconds to get someone into position, but they'd have to load the weapon when they got there. I don't think they expect an attack on the convoy, not with that many troops at hand."

Alex seemed to converse with someone on the other end of the line, his hand deliberately covering the microphone. _"What about the Mark's vehicle?"_ his voice eventually came back.

"It's an original-design Humvee 'H1', although I wouldn't be surprised if it was well protected. It was quite low on it's springs, indicating it's got some armour plating."

Daniel's voice suddenly cut in. _"That won't be a problem. We're not planning to blow the thing up anyway. It just means it'll be easier to catch in a chase."_

"_I didn't realise _that_ was part of the plan either." _Alex said, once again conversing with Daniel, this time without covering the microphone.

"_It's not, but we might have to revert to dirty tactics if they get spooked and attempt to escape. Call it a contingency."_

Alex audibly sighed, mumbling something about spying being much more simple in the 'old days'.

"_Stay hidden and wait until they leave. You're going to have to tail them unless you can get a tracker on one of the cars."_ Alex said, and Conner smiled as he thought about Diego's specialised skill base.

"I'll see what we can do, Sir. See you in a few hours."

"_Call with an update asap. Good luck, Conner."_ The line cut off, and Conner immediately called up Diego, who was still hiding in the car park.

"Diego, I've got a mission for you..."

* * *

Pressing his back into the soothingly cool-to-the-touch building, Diego took a second to catch his breath. Looking back around the corner he'd just rounded, he was relieved to see that none of the soldiers in the back of the truck had spotted him. 

It had been a close-run thing, with Diego having to run straight across the field of vision of the open back-flap of the truck. If any of them had looked up at that moment, there would have been as many as thirty rifle barrels pointing at him. Luckily, it looked as if they were deploying from the truck at the time, which was enough to distract them.

And that was just the easy part.

When Conner had told him what Alex wanted done, at first Diego thought that Alex had lost his mind, or perhaps not quite understood the situation. But the more he thought about it and surveyed the ground between him and the hangar, the more Diego felt the old rush of adrenaline entering his system.

It wasn't until half way through executing his ideas that Diego ever really understood what he'd gotten himself into. Luckily, he hadn't reached that stage yet.

Taking one last look around the corner, Diego took of at a sprint for the side of the hangar. Despite the number of armed men in the area, they were all still inside the building. It made getting to the hanger much easier, but once inside, it would be a totally different game all together.

To that end, Conner was scouting around the airport perimeter in an attempt to get a clear view into the hanger. He could then act as an extra pair of eyes.

Diego reached the corrugated iron wall of the hangar at a run, quickly making his way to the nearest door. It was only a chicken-wire 'gate', but it was secured with a rather hefty padlock, which made Diego pause. Normally, this would force the Spaniard to find another entrance, he had never really got to grips with lockpicking, but luckily this was something that seemed to happen to Alex a lot, as one of the first gadgets that Smithers unveiled to the team was a toothpaste that could eat through any metal. So Diego didn't actually need to disguise the paste from anybody, but what was the use in re-packaging the stuff?

After a small application, the bolt melted away to nothing almost instantly, Diego only just managed to catch the padlock as it fell towards the floor, avoiding the large clunk that it would have made on contact with the concrete. Placing it carefully down at his feet, he silently pulled the door open, and slipped inside, taking up a position behind a large metal container.

Resting his back against the container, Diego listened intently to the noises around him. To the right, he could hear the engine noise from both the convoy and plane, the propellers only just starting to slow. To his left he could hear voices talking in a strange dialect of Spanish, which mercifully, were becoming more distant. The closest sound however, was the 'clunk' of movement from within the container itself.

Peaking around the side, he quickly spotted his target – the Humvee.

From inside his pocket, Diego took out a small silver button-like object. It wasn't very big, but had a rather powerful electromagnet inside it that automatically engaged when it was placed against a metallic object. Also inside was Smithers' specially designed GPS transmitter, special because it also contained a surprisingly large amount of plastic explosive.

The idea was to get it stuck into the wheel-arch of the H1. Easier said than done.

The hummer was conveniently placed right in the middle of the scrum of vehicles, sandwiched in-between the plane and the convoy. Webb himself was standing at the bottom of the plane access steps, talking with one of the soldiers. Now that he was closer, it was easy to see that these men were a well-trained unit, highly paid and probably deadly in a fire fight. Neither were good things when they were your enemy.

"_Oh man,"_ Conner's voice sounded, the communications link left open between the two, _"I'm sure glad I'm not you."_

Diego smirked. "So am I. You would've been caught ages ago." He could hear Conner grunt in agreement. "Any ideas on how I can do this without being shot at?"

Conner seemed to pause, his reply coming only after about a minute of silence. _"There's a lot of movement in there at the moment. All of the troops are out of the trucks, and they're loading up the plane with crates coming from the containers at the back, just where you are at the moment..."_

Diego suddenly felt very vulnerable at the thought that Conner's cross-hairs were planted over his forehead. "You can see me?"

Conner chuckled, _"Na – You left the door open."_

Turning his head, Diego swore under his breath as he saw the door slightly ajar.

"_Anyway, if you could get hold of a uniform, you could grab a crate and load the plane for them..." _he said, hesitation in his voice, _"Unfortunately, that plan relies on you having a spare pair of DPMs in your back pocket."_

Diego smirked, "No problem," he said, tucking the tracker back into his pocket, "Just leave it to me."

"_The floor is yours, my friend."_

Smiling, Diego unplugged the headphones from his ears, letting them hang down from the neck of his shirt. He wouldn't need help for this bit. Leaning his head on the side of the container, he pressed his ear against the metal, listening to the conversation inside.

"Go to the next one over," the voice was saying in the same Spanish dialect that Diego was having trouble deciphering. "This container is empty, go to the next one. I'll close this one up."

Diego smiled. Perfect!

Straightening up, he broke cover and walked confidently down the side of the container. Rounding the front corner, he found the lone soldier standing next to the open door, fiddling with the locking mechanism.

Walking up behind the man, Diego asked, in undisguised English, "Can I help you with that?"

The soldier froze, rounding on Diego in the same action as grabbing his rifle, but this only helped the UNITI agent as Diego rammed a fist into the man's solar plexus, winding him. An elbow to the face broke his nose with a wet 'crack', before a neat judo move forced the man into the darkness of the container, where one more blow to the back of the head rendered the soldier unconscious.

Three minutes later, Diego walked confidently out of the container wearing the man's combats over his own clothes, the assault rifle slung casually over his shoulder.

He quickly locked up the container door, moving a slider over on the front that indicated the crate as 'empty'. At least that would stop people checking inside for the short-term.

That done, he made his way over to the next container, which soldiers were regularly entering and exiting with a number of differing sizes crates. Some looked like they could hold weapons, but others were so large that they had to be carried by two men. Diego planned to try and get the former. The less contact with these people, the less chance they'd recognise him as an outsider.

Entering the container, Diego quickly surveyed the layout inside. To the left, there was a small pile of wooden crates, and to his relief, there were a number of smaller ones left to transport. However, standing in front of them, and apparently dishing the crates out, was a man three times the size of Diego. He noted with interest that his uniform was a slightly different colour to his stolen one, but didn't dwell on it. With a lump growing in his throat, Diego walked up to the man, trying to act as confident as possible.

The soldier, who was at least a foot taller than Diego, sneered down at him, shoving a long, thin crate into Diego's arms. Assuming that was his load, Diego turned to leave, shoving the crate under his arm as he went, but a shout stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, you!" the man called in Spanish, his voice echoing badly in the confined space, making it twice as loud as it should have been, "get back here!"

Diego swallowed hard, before turning back to the man. He received a dirty look as the soldier studied his form.

"You mercenaries get lazier every day!" the guy said, dumping another crate into Diego's arms. "And shorter! What're they feeding you back on the continent? Cockroaches?!"

Diego raised his eyebrows at the thought of being fed 'cucarachas' as a meal. He laughed quietly and turned away, making for the exit as quickly as possible without looking suspicious. Luckily, another 'mercenary' entered at that moment, and the soldier's attention was diverted to him instead. As Diego walked away, he could head the man shouting even more crude insults at the new arrival.

Looking around, Diego realised that he was meant to be heading towards the rear of the aircraft, where a rear access ramp had been lowered. He was heartened to find that despite the fact that mercs were walking all around him, no one seemed to realise he didn't belong. He was also quick to note that most of the soldiers in the hangar were wearing the same uniform as him, a dark grey/black DPM, whilst there were a number of small groups of soldiers in a brown DPM, like that of the large solder in the container, that seemed to be holding conversations instead of doing work. Diego wondered if this could be a way of identifying the mercs from the drug baron's actual soldiers.

Not wanting to push his luck, Diego put the matter out of his mind and quickly made his way over to the access ramp, where he handed his two crates over to a soldier, another merc looking at the colour of his uniform, who was the end of a human chain into the cargo hold of the aircraft. The man even gave him a small smile, which Diego returned, if a little confusedly.

Turning back to the containers, Diego made a quick visual sweep of the hanger, and easily spotted a group of mercs standing over by the empty troop transports, talking animatedly about something. Diego immediately started making his way over to them, not because he wanted to participate in the conversation, but because the Humvee was directly between the group and his position.

He reached the hummer unchallenged, and on reaching the front-right wheel arch, he dropped to his knee, feigning the tying of his bootlace, which he'd tied deliberately loose a few minutes ago. With a quick check that no one was nearby, he reached inside of his neckline and pulled out a headphone, jamming it into the ear closest to the vehicle, hiding it from view this way.

"How's it looking?" he said, preying that Conner was still looking over him.

"_You're not doing to badly,"_ came the almost instantaneous response, _"I thought you'd had it when it took you ages come out of that container, but other than that, it looks like you're on track."_

Diego let out a breath of relief, "No one's looking for the missing soldier?"

Down the coms, Diego heard Conner give a chuckle, _"That was a bold move, I'll give you that, but so far, no one's noticed." _Conner paused, _"I'm not so sure that'll hold true when they go to leave, but we'll see."_

Diego smiled, "I don't think that will be a problem," he said, looking back over at the offending crate, "From what I've seen, the guys in charge don't care much for most the solders here. They're hired help, mercenaries, and from the way they were interacting with me, they haven't worked with Webb's men before."

"_It would make sense,"_ Conner said slowly, _"It's not like every drug baron has their own private army on call, just in case they need to steal back a cache of drugs from the government."_

Diego smirked, leaving his laces for a second and reaching into his combats to retrieve the tracker, "You might be surprised..."

On the other end of the line, Conner sighed. _"One day, Diego, we are going to sit down, and you are going to tell me all about your life before UNITI, because these little hints about it are driving me mad!"_

Despite himself, Diego let out a small laugh as he reached up into the wheel arch of the Humvee, feeling the little gadget latch onto the metal surface. "One day, mi amigo. One day."

"_Yeh..."_ Conner replied, in a disbelieving tone, _"Anyway, have you planted that tracker yet?"_

"Si," Diego said, going back to his laces, "It's attached and activated."

"_Good, because you need to get out of there. The soldiers seem to have finished what they were doing, and they're heading back to the trucks."_

Diego's eyes widened as he looked about. "Shit!" He quickly finished tying his laces, and ripped out his earphone, shoving it back into his top.

Standing up once more, he made a beeline for the door at the back of the hangar that he'd entered through. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near where the transports were, and he kept having to dodge mercs who were walking in the opposite direction. It was only a matter of time before he was spotted, and sure enough...

"Hey, you!" a very familiar Spanish voice called out. Diego froze, turning his head slightly to see if it was him being called to.

"Yes! You!" the voice called out again, "Where do you think you're going?"

Diego turned around, using his hand to indicate that he was planning to go have a cigarette. However, the rather large soldier growled at him in response.

"What do you think this is! A holiday camp?! We don't have time to wait for you! Do it on the truck!" the soldier said, pointing at the transports which were now being climbed into by the mercs.

Diego blinked, at a loss at what to do. He could follow orders, and join the mercs, but he would probably be ratted out, or he could turn and run, but then he'd surely set alarm bells ringing.

In the end, it was the way that the brown-cammoed soldier was fingering his rifle that made Diego choose to follow orders. That merc at the aircraft had seemed to accept him, perhaps he could get away with it...

He walked around to the back of the last transport, aware of the large soldier's eyes on him the entire time. Eventually, he accepted a helping arm up into the back of the truck, finding himself on the end seat as the tailgate clanked shut at his knees. The large soldier gave him one last dirty look, before he got into one of the 4x4s, shouting orders at the other drivers to get a move on.

Diego swallowed as he turned to look into the cliffs on the far side of the airport, where he knew Conner was watching him, probably with horror etched into his face. Diego mouthed the word 'HELP', before turning to survey his 'fellow mercenaries'.

Up on the cliffs, Conner was already calling HQ.

"Alex? We have a problem..."

* * *

**So, what did you think? Not too long, but this was the 'easy' bit of the mission I have lined up for you lot.  
I would really appreciate any reviews you could give me, especially on things like grammar or spelling (or if anyone actually speaks Spanish - I need to know some commonly-used swear words!)**

**At the same time, I appreciate reviews from anyone and everyone simply because they fill me with a little ray of sunshine... sigh  
So, please don't ****hesitate**

**I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to have some more for you soon.**

**Chris aka 'Fensta'**


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